Goalbets lookthe waytogo
RANGERS and Hibs continue their Europa League adventures tonight and they look contrasting games.
Maribor visit Ibrox for what should be a tight contest but Hibs v Molde could be a goalfest.
A double on under 2.5 goals at Ibrox and over 2.5 at Easter Road looks the best bet and pays 11-5 at McBookie.
Picking winners is tougher. Maribor don’t have star men and aren’t a big name but they always beat Scottish teams don’t they?
In four qualifiers they haven’t conceded while Steven Gerrard’s men conceded for the only time when Osijek netted a lastgasp leveller at Ibrox. So even under 1.5 goals tempts at 19-10 at Unibet.
To win tonight Gers are BY GORDON PARKS NEIL LENNON has held John McGinn’s confidence for weeks but the Hibs boss insists it didn’t come with a nudge and wink in the direction of Celtic Park.
The Northern Irishman insists the pursuit of happiness for his former midfielder is all that mattered with Aston Villa having now secured 23-year-old’s signature.
McGinn last night completed a move to Steve Bruce’s Championship side in a £3million deal to see Celtic’s summer pursuit end in vain.
And Lennon is adamant it should never have been perceived to be a fait accompli the Scotland star would join his boyhood heroes.
Family ties have a huge pull and having a grandfather Jack McGinn as a former Celtic chairman is a point in case.
But Lennon insists his wise counsel has also been about broadening horizons and not jumping at the chance to pull on the Hoops.
Speaking before the transfer was announced he said: “Sometimes you just have to go with your gut instinct and whatever feels right.
“There will be pros and cons with both clubs I would imagine from John’s point of view.
“I had a good chat with him because I went through the same thing myself and I said, ‘Don’t make the same mistakes I did’.
“I don’t have a crystal ball to see where his career will now go so it’s just what John feels happiest about.
“It’s not down to me wanting him to go to a club where we wouldn’t be playing against him, what matters to me is I want him to be happy.
“I want him to take his career and his talent on. He’s lucky in the respect he’s wanted by two very big club with two highly-respected managers.
“It will come down to the player himself and what he wants to do and you have to respect that one way or the other.
“Celtic had been the only team to put money on the table but John had also indicated to me England was an option. He obviously has the family ties with Celtic and it’s a club which is close to him and his family.
“But there is also a big world out there for him and a different culture and a footballing experience and he may want to experience that.
“It’s down to the player himself and what he wants to do, you have to respect that one way or the other.
“He went down at Aston Villa, completed a medical and Celtic have matched the offer but I’m not aware of any contact between the club, Celtic or John’s representative as of yet.
“What’s my preference for him? Barcelona.”
The loss of his best player ahead of the biggest European night in decades for Hibs is the last thing Lennon would have wanted as Norwegians Molde roll into town for their Europa League clash.
A third round first-leg qualifier at Easter Road tonight is another historic chapter in the club’s continental exploits but Lennon insists McGinn leaves as an irreplaceable Scottish Cup winner with a reputation as being among the best to pull on the green and white in three decades.
He said: “John is one of the best Hibs players in the past 25 or 30 years.
“He has won a massive trophy here, he has been consistent and he’s been a Scotland international over the last couple of years – even when he was back in the Championship. That takes some doing.
“He was one of the outstanding players in the country last year while at a team outside the big two. And he is getting better, not only domestically but in European football.
“So he’s right up there with any of them, Scott Brown, Derek Riordan and Frank Sauzee, albeit it was slightly different with him as he came later on in his career after winning a Champions League. For what John has given to this club, we need to put him in that bracket.
“I can’t replace him. If I was to replace him I’d need to bring in a £20,000-aweek player and I can’t do that.
“We will look to develop the players we have again and find some others who will enhance us. I’m not going to go out and say, ‘You’re the next John McGinn’, because I’d need to spend £4million to do that.”
The conclusion to this summer’s big transfer saga has weakened Lennon’s