Celtic boss Neil Lennon has confirmed the club have punished striker Anthony Stokes for attending a function for murdered IRA leader Alan Ryan.

The 24-year-old has been out of action since August and has found a return to the starting line-up a difficulty after regaining full fitness.

The striker s controversial attendance at a function in Dublin in September for Ryan has been met with a damning response by his coach, who said that his decision to attend damaged the club, which has strong religious and political links.

We spoke to him internally, Lennon said.

I am not going to moralise to him, but you cannot damage the reputation of the club. He is aware of that now. It has been dealt with internally. And he has taken it on board, absolutely.

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Manager Michael Beale is intent on doing all he can to help ensure 2024 brings plenty more goals for Nazariy Rusyn and Sunderland’s strikers after watching an unwanted run come to an end against Preston.

The Ukrainian became the first of Sunderland’s recognised strikers to score this season when he turned in Jack Clarke’s 44th-minute cross at the Stadium of Light.

That goal followed Alex Pritchard’s first of the campaign in the 10th minute to put the Black Cats on track for a New Year’s Day victory.

Even though Pritchard’s 25-yard thunderbolt was of the highest quality, it was Rusyn’s predatory finish that was needed much more on Wearside.

Rusyn, Eliezer Mayenda, Luis Hemir and on-loan Chelsea man Mason Burstow have all struggled for time an…

Chelsea will be aiming to stay in touch with the automatic Champions League qualifying spots when they visit Stoke on Saturday.

But the Blues find themselves in the middle of a form slump and their task of claiming victory at Britannia Stadium will not be an easy one given Stoke have not lost at their home ground in 10 Premier League outings this season.

Chelsea are just one point off third-placed Tottenham with a game in hand but they have not had much to write home about since the beginning of the year.

On January 2, they suffered the humiliation of losing to bottom-placed Queens Park Rangers 1-0 in front of their home fans at Stamford Bridge.

And while they rebounded with vigour three days later to thump Southampton 5-1 in their third-round FA Cup tie…

The father of Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina said his son would relish the opportunity to rejoin Barcelona.

The revelation comes days after current Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes publicly stated he would not be extending his existing contract at the Camp Nou, prompting manager Tito Vilanova to begin the search for a potential replacement.

Miguel Reina, who was also a shot-stopper for the Blaugrana, has put his son firmly in the frame to replace Valdes by touting Pepe as the ideal Barca keeper.

Pepe originally signed for Barcelona when he was just 12.

He would be more than delighted to return to Barcelona, Miguel Reina told Laxaraxa.com.

He did well from the moment he arrived there as a 12-year-old to when he left. I think Pepe has sufficiently…

Paul Pogba can cope with the weight of expectation and shine for France at the World Cup, according to Bacary Sagna.

After experiencing an up-and-down season with Manchester United, his second back at Old Trafford, midfielder Pogba is considered a pivotal member of Didier Deschamps national side.

He missed out on glory at Euro 2016 on home soil after losing in the final to Portugal, though France will hope to go one better in Russia.

Sagna, who played against the Portuguese in Paris two years ago, believes Pogba so often scrutinised for his performances for club and country has the big character required to thrive at the tournament.

People expect him to be decisive every single game but he is a human being, he has his own qualities, Sagna told Omnisport …

Guti is set to be appointed as the new head coach at Real Madrid, according to Real Murcia president Victor Galvez.

The LaLiga giants are seeking a replacement for Zinedine Zidane, who announced his shock resignation less than a week after leading Madrid to an unprecedented third consecutive Champions League title.

Guti is employed as a youth coach at Madrid but had been linked with a surprise switch to Scottish Premiership side St Mirren.

And Galvez confirmed he also hoped to attract Guti to third-tier Murcia, only for Zidane s departure to dramatically change his plan.

Guti is going to coach Real Madrid, so he cannot coach Murcia, Galvez said. He was the coach I wanted here.

It s a shame that Zidane didn t resign two days later. Guti called m…

Sadio Mane appears increasingly likely to leave Bayern Munich at the end of his first season at the club, following the recent dressing room incident with teammate Leroy Sane. The former Liverpool star was taken off the squad for Bayern s Bundesliga clash against Hoffenheim on Saturday, but he has returned to training and should be available for the Manchester City rematch on Wednesday.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, head coach Thomas Tuchel said the 31-year-old had apologized and acted professionally in the aftermath of the incident, but German journalist Florian Plettenberg says a number of players have distanced themselves from Mane and Tuchel has no place for him in his plans for 2023/24.

If so, Mane s future is extremely uncertain at the moment. There …

Barcelona made a mistake not selling superstar captain Lionel Messi at the start of the season, according to Rivaldo.

Messi is out of contract at the end of the current campaign and the record six-time Ballon d Or winner appears likely to leave on a free transfer amid strong links to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.

The 33-year-old attacker had tried to exit Camp Nou prior to the start of 2020-21 before opting to remain with the LaLiga giants.

As Barca struggle financially amid the coronavirus pandemic, former star Rivaldo wrote in his Betfair column: Barcelona were not in good financial health pre-pandemic, but things got nasty in the last year and beyond Lionel Messi s almost inevitable departure, the club may need to sell some more important players …