Retief Goosen has criticised Padraig Harrington his rival for the European Order of Merit title as definitely the slowest player on

Retief Goosen has criticised Padraig Harrington, his rival for the European Order of Merit title, as “definitely the slowest player on tour”. Substitutes: McCaffrey, Low, Ridgers (gk).Referee: M McCurry.. Substitutes not used: Sylla, Gould (gk).Inverness Caledonian Thistle (3-5-2): Brown; Munro, Mann, Golabek; Tokely, Hart, McBain, Duncan, Robson (Christie, 71); Ritchie (Keogh, 78), Wyness. There was some consolation for Inverness in the 72nd minute when Dennis Wyness reduced the deficit.Celtic (3-5-2): Douglas; Boyd (Miller, 76), Bald?Kennedy, 62), Crainey; Agathe (Wallace, 67), Healy, Thompson, Maloney, Smith; Hartson, Fernandez. However, five minutes later Paul Ritchie shook Parkhead with a thunderous equaliser, drilling a fierce 25-yard shot past Robert Douglas.Was lightning about to strike twice? Celtic removed that notion by regaining the lead in the 19th minute, when David Fernandez delivered a cross which Hartson dived in to head past Mark Brown.Alan Thompson increased the lead to 3-1, bending a free-kick around the wall after Maloney had been fouled, and the teenager set up Hartson’s second on the hour with a fine chip to the back post which the Welshman buried with his right boot.

Celtic exorcised the ghost of Inverness Caledonian Thistle as they gained a slice of revenge for their Parkhead night of infamy 32 months ago. We only have ourselves to blame for that.”McLeish has some concerns over the fitness of a couple of his players ahead of tonight’s tricky third-round trip, but there is still no place for Christian Nerlinger or Neil McCann.. McLeish believes Scottish clubs are responsible for that poor representation “We have to do better in Europe to get more places. It’s a shame that a Uefa Cup place doesn’t happen for the eventual winners, but it’s still a very important trophy.”Scotland will have two Champions’ League places next season, but they will have just two places in the Uefa Cup. From December last year, that and the Scottish Cup were the only realistic targets for us and we managed to succeed in both.”I’ve definitely got a big feeling for the CIS Cup. They followed that up by winning the Tennent’s Scottish Cup against Celtic to ease the agony of missing out to their arch-rivals in the Scottish Premier League for the second successive year.McLeish concedes it is a shame there is no Uefa Cup place up for grabs for the winners, but that does not affect his love of the competition.”The cup is very important to me,” he insisted.

If they are paying big money for the competition then they want to see the best players.”You see the League Cup being devalued in England with reserve teams being employed by the top three or four top teams in the early rounds.”McLeish is going to field his strongest team possible at Easter Road and admits he is serious about retaining the CIS Insurance Cup because it was his first silverware as Rangers manager. However he believes that such a move would devalue the League Cup.”I’ve never given it a lot of thought,” he added “I understand Berti’s reasoning behind it But it won’t be something that the sponsors want to see. Moving on is not even in my mind and, if things go to plan, then I would have no problem staying at Rangers for life.”Lovenkrands is certain to start in a strong Rangers side which begins their defence of the CIS Insurance League Cup at Hibernian tonight.McLeish says he understands the call from Scotland coach Berti Vogts to make the competition an all-Scottish affair. Big clubs like Inter Milan and Juventus have been mentioned but if sides like that are keen I must be doing something right at Ibrox.”I’m flattered but I’m not leaving because I don’t want to go anywhere else.

The fans are fantastic and I’m really excited to play here.”Obviously, I’m flattered that other teams are interested in me. I love the fans and I love living in Scotland.”People who know me will realise I would never say I’m only in it for the money I never demanded more cash or threatened to leave I want to stay here and do everything I can to prove that I love everything about being at Rangers. In fact, if things go as I expect them to, I wouldn’t mind staying here for the rest of my career I love the club more than anything. I’d like to sign a long-term contract here and I’m sure we can agree one very quickly. Even Inamoto’s compatriots could not fill the ground, an attendance of only 15,858 helping to explain why Fulham continue to look at new sites, the latest of them as far away as Osterley.The home supporters did not enjoy much of the evening, apart from a brief spell at the start of the second half. Some of his five changes were through injuries to players like Sean Davis and Facundo Sava, but it turned out to be a mistake to rest others who had contributed to a handsome performance in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United.Junichi Inamoto, brought back after a three-match absence, was utterly ineffective and substituted at half-time, to the disappointment of the Japanese hordes initially so excited by his return. For Jean Tigana’s team, it was a return to the days of high summer, when they struggled so desperately to score in the Intertoto Cup.