You are witness to an unprecedented experiment in sports journalism here this morning — if not quite a match report written before the match then something not too far off it.

What's on telly? UEFA and benefits and movies galore.

John Carver, the latest in a long line of men to be handed the ticking time bomb that is the job of manager at Newcastle United, has been fielding questions about his players’ choice of footwear for some weeks now.

England 25 Scotland 13

MARTIN O’NEILL will be anxiously waiting on news from Everton today where Darron Gibson is to undergo tests after sustaining an injury in training.

John Collins has no worries over race row Celtic player Aleksandar Tonev ahead of their opening Europa League clash with Salzburg in Austria tonight (6pm, live on Setanta Ireland).

Celtic 2 Aberdeen 1

Gaelic games flower in Asian country once reluctant to embrace the outside world.

The bookies might have slashed the odds on Henrik Larsson as successor to Neil Lennon at Celtic but, inevitably, the name of Roy Keane is still in there as a longer shot.

All Black coach Steve Hansen has accused players who have left New Zealand to play in Ireland and other European countries as lacking “mental fortitude” while the country’s main newspaper has claimed future Irish teams will not be Irish.

Partick Thistle 1 Celtic 5

Tom Wood has a unique take on what makes a nice day out.

Two days of talks ended yesterday in Dublin with the ERC and its six member unions moving halfway towards the rebellious English and French clubs and their demands for a radically altered European club structure.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has declared the club will be under less pressure to sell players next summer after recording a pre-tax profit of almost £10 million (€11.8m).

Shakhter Karagandy 2 Celtic 0

Liverpool XI 0 Glasgow Celtic XI 1

Cork City 0 Celtic XI 2

Snoop Lion has pleaded with a top soccer club to make him their mascot for a day.

Former Celtic player and coach, Irishman Sean Fallon, has died at the age of 90, the club confirmed today.

Smart finishes from Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper sent Celtic seven points clear at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with victory at Dundee last night.

As Celtic prepare for tonight’s formidable Champions League test against Barcelona, Parkhead old boy Packie Bonner reckons they’ll have to contend with, not just the best player in the world, but the greatest player there’s ever been.

IT doesn’t feel all that long ago that we began a Heineken Cup with the prospect of the sword of Damocles dangling ominously over the world’s greatest club rugby competition. That’s because it wasn’t long ago at all — in 2007, to be precise — that the French and English clubs last decided that they were picking up the ball and walking off the pitch.

The Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), the governing body for domestic rugby in France, has clarified that unless there is a “catastrophic failure in negotiations” it will not consider abandoning the Heineken Cup for a breakaway tournament.

They’re at it again!

France’s Top 14 clubs are demanding a swift resolution to the schism that threatens the future of European rugby.

France's Top 14 clubs have set an autumn deadline for completion of negotiations over the restructuring of the Heineken Cup, after which they will examine alternative options.

A year ago today, Mark Mc Govern played his first and only game for the Ulster football club in San Francisco.

Neil Lennon might wish to play it down but he watched his Celtic side take another confident step towards the treble with a 2-0 William Hill Scottish Cup fifth-round win at Inverness yesterday.

CELTIC manager Neil Lennon was critical of Peterhead’s aggressive approach in their William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round clash yesterday.

NEIL LENNON and Steve Lomas found themselves clashing over two major incidents during Celtic’s 2-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park yesterday, which took them to within four points of SPL leaders Rangers.

CELTIC manager Neil Lennon is looking for his side to capitalise on Rangers’ slip up in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title race.

FERMANAGH’S Mark McGovern has defied the odds by walking just weeks after awakening from a coma.

San Francisco police are said to be investing the incident last Saturday which left Fermanagh Gaelic footballer Mark McGovern in a coma.

A young Gaelic footballer has been hospitalised in San Francisco and is reportedly 'in a critical condition' following an incident in a club match last Saturday.

DAMIEN RICHARDSON is confident his Airtricity League XI can hold their own against Scottish club Celtic and Premier League giants Manchester City in next month’s inaugural Dublin Super Cup.

NEIL LENNON hailed his players as fearless as the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title races enters what is sure to be its tense final weeks.

JOHAN MJALLBY insists the date of the final Old Firm derby of the season holds no real significance for Celtic because they will place just as much importance on the rest of their remaining games.

France coach Marc Lievremont has turned up the heat ahead of this weekend’s RBS 6 Nations encounter with England at Twickenham by admitting: “We don’t like the English”.

Aberdeen 0 Celtic 3

NEIL LENNON will be in the Celtic dugout for the Old Firm derby against Rangers at Ibrox on January 2 after another Scottish Football Association hearing was postponed.

NEIL LENNON is hoping his players respond positively to being snubbed by their fellow professionals when they take on Rangers in the final Old Firm derby of the season at Parkhead tonight (7.45pm).

STEPHEN MCMANUS has revealed the Celtic players and management held a clear-the-air meeting following a fractious beginning to Tony Mowbray’s tenure as Parkhead boss.

TONY MOWBRAY made history as his Celtic side knocked Dinamo Moscow out of the Champions League third qualifier last night – and then claimed it was just another game to him.