ONeill

However, former Celtic midfielder John Collins believes an experienced striker could change everything.

“It’s hard playing football without a natural centre forward,” he said on BBC Scotland’s Sportsound. “Someone you can hit and you know it’ll stick.

“If you’re a midfielder you can play one-twos, knowing they can bounce it off you. You can’t do that with Maeda, he likes to run in behind. You can’t link with him.

“He’s up there doing his best, but he’s not a real centre forward for me. A good centre forward can change everything.

“You’re getting half chances, next thing you’re 3-0 up. The chances Celtic do create, if you’ve got a good striker you’re winning comfortably.”

Right-back Julian Araujo has arrived on loan from Bournemouth this month, as Celtic also look to address weaknesses in other areas, amid injuries to some key players too.

Becuase while profligacy has been costly at times this season – especially in the ill-fated Wilfried Nancy eta – it was not their major problem against Falkirk.

They only managed two shots on target and were outplayed in spells by John McGlynn’s side, who hassled in midfield and worked incredibly hard.

As a result, the hosts created the better chances and played some slick football.

Callum McGregor was isolated on the ball in midfield, despite Nygren and Arne Engels starting alongside him.

Collins believes the team also needs another athletic midfielder and a winger too.

“Engels has good games and very average games. Nygren comes in and out of games, and lacks consistency,” the former Celtic assistant said.

“One player who always wants the ball is Callum McGregor. Week in, week out he’s at a level. They’ve got to get more quality in the central area.”

Celtic’s next league game is a critical one away to Hearts, a match that will help define the destiny of the title.

If there are no new faces ready to go by then fans will be furious, never mind the much-loved O’Neill’s call for patience.

Tyrone manager Malachy O’Rourke says that Peter Harte is ‘probably not going to commit’ to the Tyrone cause ahead of the 2026 season, while Rian O’Neill looks set to sit out the 2026 campaign for Armagh.

O’Rourke was speaking after the Red Hands opened their campaign in the Dr McKenna Cup with a 2-13 to 0-17 win away at Armagh.

Mattie Donnelly who was also a part of the 2008 All-Ireland minor winning side with Harte, contributed 1-2 on the night.

“I think Peter, at this stage, is probably not going to be able to commit, unfortunately. Peter has given so much service to the county, he’s a brilliant role model for all the boys, he’ll be missed greatly,” O’Rourke told BBC Sport NI.

“We’re never going to close the door on him, and I definitely don’t want to close the door on him.

“So, if it was the case that he got a wee bit of breathing space later on in the year and he was able to come back, well, then the door will always be open for him.

“But, at this stage, he’s not able to give the commitment. So, we’ll just have to move on in the short term without him, and we’ll see how things go.”

With the conveyor belt of underage success coming through in Tyrone at the minute, including last year’s U20 and minor All-Ireland winning sides, the experience of the 35-year-old would be beneficial for the county.

“Both on the field and off the field, just the way he conducts himself, the way he trains, the way he prepares for training, and everything about him is just what you want in a panel,” O’Rourke continued.

“And it’s great. We’ve so many young lads coming through who, I suppose, in many ways, are learning to trade at this level.

“And the more fellas like Peter that they can learn from, the better. Maybe there will be some chance that he’ll be back to us later on in the year. But, at this stage, I’m not sure that’s going to be the way it turns out.

“But, Peter certainly owes nobody anything. He’s had a tremendous career. Even last year when he was in with us, he was brilliant to work with.”

O’Rourke also confirmed that Darragh Canavan should be available for selection ahead of Tyrone’s National Football League opener at home to Kildare on 24 January.

“All the boys that weren’t involved tonight were all training earlier on today, and Darragh included,” the Tyrone boss confirmed.

“They were all out in the field. So, everybody was training. Everyone was at different stages.

“But, no, we’d be hoping that they’ll all be back and be in contention for the start of the National League.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s administration announced late Tuesday that it’s freezing child care funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of some day care centers after a series of fraud schemes involving government programs in recent years.

Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on the social platform X that the move is in response to “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back on X, saying fraudsters are a serious issue that the state has spent years cracking down on but that this move is part of “Trump’s long game.”

“He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans,” Walz said.

O’Neill referenced a right-wing influencer who posted a video Friday claiming he found that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud. O’Neill said he has demanded Walz submit an audit of these centers that includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.

“We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,” O’Neill said.

The announcement comes one day after U.S. Homeland Security officials were in Minneapolis conducting a fraud investigation by going to unidentified businesses and questioning workers.

There have been years of investigations that included a $300 million pandemic food fraud scheme revolving around the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, for which 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted. Prosecutors said the organization was at the center of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud scam, when defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program meant to provide food for children.

A federal prosecutor alleged earlier this month that half or more of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen. Most of the defendants in the child nutrition, housing services and autism program schemes are Somali Americans, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota.

O’Neill, who is serving as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also said in the social media post Tuesday that payments across the U.S. through the Administration for Children and Families, an agency within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, will now require “justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before money is sent. They have also launched a fraud-reporting hotline and email address.

The Administration for Children and Families provides $185 million in child care funds annually to Minnesota, according to Assistant Secretary Alex Adams.

“That money should be helping 19,000 American children, including toddlers and infants,” he said in a video posted on X. “Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children.”

Adams said he spoke Monday with the director of Minnesota’s child care services office and she wasn’t able to say “with confidence whether those allegations of fraud are isolated or whether there’s fraud stretching statewide.”

Trump has criticized Walz’s administration over the fraud cases, capitalizing on them to target the Somalia diaspora in the state, which has the largest Somali population in the U.S.

Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has said an audit due by late January should give a better picture of the extent of the fraud. He said his administration is taking aggressive action to prevent additional fraud. He has long defended how his administration responded.

Minnesota’s most prominent Somali American, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, has urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a relative few.

Golden writes for the Associated Press.