Clarke ended his seven-year reign earlier this summer after Scotland failed to progress from the World Cup group stage after a victory over Haiti was followed by defeats by Morocco and Brazil.
Former Belgium defender Pocognoli left Monaco at the end of last season and previously led Union Saint-Gilloise to their first league title in 90 years in 2024-25.
He becomes only the second foreign boss of the Scotland men’s team, after the German Berti Vogts, and believes he has what it takes to build on Clarke’s “strong foundation”.
“I’m very proud to be here,” Pocognoli said, flanked by Scottish Football Association (SFA) chiefs Ian Maxwell and Craig Mulholland at his introduction.
“It’s a very strong challenge, with a project to develop the future of Scottish football. There are the metrics, but the human aspect was also very important. I never go to a challenge where I can’t feel the connection.
“Scotland is a passionate country and I think also, regarding the strong foundation that Steve Clarke and his staff laid, that I can use this heritage to put the next accent on the style of play while also developing players for the future.
Sevilla have signed Scottish striker Robbie Ure from Swedish league leaders IK Sirius for an initial fee of £5.5m.
The 22-year-old completed his medical on Monday and signed a five-year contract after being offered the opportunity to lead the line at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.
The La Liga side will pay 6.5 million euros (£5.5m) up front, with a further 2.5 million euros (£2.1m) in add-ons.
Ure will become the third Scottish-born player to play for Sevilla in official competition, the Spanish club said, following Ted McMinn in the 1980s and Duncan McVean Thomson during the 1915-16 season.
Two other Scots were mentioned by Sevilla to mark the move: former manager Jock Wallace, who led Sevilla during the 1986-87 season, and the club’s first president, Edward Farquharson Johnston.
Ure, a former Scotland Under-19 international, has been in demand across Europe after scoring 20 goals and providing three assists in 20 matches in all competitions during the ongoing Swedish season.
He began his club career at Rangers, where he scored once in three first-team games, before joining Belgian club Anderlecht in 2023, where he made just one senior appearance.
In Sweden, however, his career has taken off, with 31 goals and seven assists in 50 appearances since joining Sirius in March 2025.
His 15 league goals have propelled the club to the top of the Allsvenskan table, where they hold a commanding 12-point lead just past the midway stage of the season.
An early Robbie Crawford back-heel and a Cammy MacPherson own goal give Partick Thistle victory over Livingston as two of the promotion favourites meet in the Scottish Championship at Firhill.
You take over at a club who were denied a historic league title in the final 10 minutes of last season. They then lose their captain and talismanic striker, plus their best midfielder, and have a huge turnover of players.
Your first competitive action is a Champions League qualifier against seasoned European campaigners Sturm Graz, losing 6-0 on aggregate, before conceding twice after the 90th minute up at Aberdeen to lose your first league match.
So, what’s next? Benfica in Europa League qualifying. A doddle.
The Portuguese giants await on Thursday (20:00 BST) amid a savage introduction for Hearts’ new Belgian head coach. Chances of progression feel slim.
There have been aspects of each of the three matches under Vrancken that have been encouraging, and a win at Pittodrie on Saturday would have been a huge morale boost.
However, the nature of the team’s late collapse has intensified fear among the support that their season could unravel before it has even properly started.
A trip to Lisbon to face Marco Silva’s Benfica presents a glamour tie but also the prospect of another chastening defeat on the continent as Vrancken tries to piece together his best XI.
The 38-time Portuguese champions beat Napoli and Real Madrid at home in the Champions League last term on their way to the knockout stage, where they were put out by Real, who have since taken head coach Jose Mourinho.
Benfica’s domestic action is yet to return after they finished third in the league last season, but they defeated Swiss side St Gallen over two legs to reach this stage of Europa League qualifying.
A 2-1 defeat in Switzerland was wiped out with a thumping 5-0 win in the second leg last Thursday, with four of the five goals coming from Greece striker Vangelis Pavlidis.
The man suspected of killing Scottish aid worker Elisabeth Jane Ross in Greece is 26-year-old Sharif Ahmadzai, the BBC understands.
He was arrested after the body of the 38-year-old was found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in the Kypseli district of Athens on 18 July, several days after she was reported missing.
Ahmadzai, who was born in Afghanistan and is a champion boxer, travelled to Greece as a refugee.
He is expected to appear in court in Athens on Wednesday.
The BBC understands Ahmadzai, who left Afghanistan after being orphaned aged 15, lives in Greece with his American wife and child.
His father, a commander in the Afghan army, was shot dead and his mother and siblings were killed by a suicide bomber in Kabul.
He travelled to Greece via Iran and Turkey, according to a video telling his story, external which was published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), before settling in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos.
It is understood this is where he met his wife and converted to Christianity. The pair then set up the charity Love Every Nation Athens to help other refugees.
It is thought that he met Ross through the charity.
‘I miss my camels. I miss the sun. I miss the vast emptiness of the desert plains …” These are my thoughts as I trudge through thick conifer plantations and my fifth consecutive hour of rain at the start of the Affric Kintail Way in the Scottish Highlands.
My last big adventure was a world first. I became the first recorded person to walk the full length of Saudi Arabia, north to south, from Jordan to Yemen. It took three years to organise, then 112 days of walking half a marathon a day, and I had a backup team plus Juicy and Lulu, my naughty but nice camels.
It was a fantastic, life-enhancing, often brutal, endeavour but it is over. Adventurers have got to adventure though, and I was looking for something cheap in my own country that needed little organisation or backup. I am a proud Scot and, even though I spend so much time away, I feel a strong emotional pull to my homeland, an almost physical attachment to the landscape and the thousands of ancestors who have walked it before me.
There are an abundance of long-distance walking trails in Scotland, and after many happy hours checking out the options on Walk Highlands, I settle on the Affric Kintail Way. It’s a doable distance – 44 miles (71km) in four days; easy to get to and from by bus from Edinburgh; and according to my brother, Robbie, Glen Affric is one of the most beautiful areas of the country.
Alice Morrison and a guide crossing the Saudi desert. Photograph: Alice Morrison
Preparations are simple. I buy a map, read all the information on the dedicated website, download the route on the AllTrails app and pack my rucksack. I’m doing it solo, self-supported and wild camping, so need to take everything with me but also keep my pack as light as possible. In the end it weighs around 12kg, which is not bad. My luxury is four Ferrero Rocher chocolates given to me by my mum – one for each evening.
The bus drops me off at Drumnadrochit and I walk straight up into the forests. The rain is constant, but I enjoy the sharp smell of the conifers and the sound of the cuckoos. There’s plenty of up, but the way is easy to follow along the Forestry Commission tracks. I keep checking my weather app, which promises a half-hour break in the rain, as it is so much better to pitch a tent in the dry. It comes to 6pm and I get my tent up just before the rain starts again. I’ve done a respectable 5 miles or so since the bus dropped me off, in about four hours.
The next morning, I drop down into Cannich and history is waiting for me after a long pull up out of the village. My plan is to walk about 11 miles today. Comar Wood Dun is about 250m off the path. It is a jumble of stones perched at a lookout point over the strath. Once, it was a drystone fortified house and home to a family and their animals between 400BCE and 200AD. Life must have been so hard. It is cold and wet even in June. Barley was the main crop, grown in small clearances in the wood, augmented with meat and milk from the livestock.
One of the great pleasures for me of walking in these wild places, whether it is the Highlands of Scotland or the deserts of the Arabian peninsula, is finding these echoes from the past and wondering what life was like then. Were the people happy? Were there compensations for this hard life? How did they deal with all the extremes of nature that we have managed to smooth out with our air conditioning and heating? By hiking and camping, I am trying to get closer to them in some way.
The writer on the Affric Kintail Way. Photograph: Alice Morrison
I spend the night beside Dog Falls and the morning is another haul through the forests. Sitting in my midge net at the Glen Affric car park overlooking the inlet to Loch Beinn a’Mheadhoin, hunger kicks in and I wolf down a roll, a big bag of Revels and my emergency veggie sausage rolls – a large chunk of my provisions.
I’ve been walking steadily up and down through woodlands, interspersed with farmland. This area is one of the UK’s most ancient natural woodlands – more than 10,000 years old – and is dominated by gnarly Scots pines and silvery birch.
My heart yearns for the open spaces, though, and I’m glad when it starts to open up and I see the hills rise on either side of Loch Affric. I’m alone almost all of the time: in four days, I meet just eight people. It’s just me and the green of the hills and the deep black of the loch between them. My heavy pack hurts my shoulders, and my feet are sore from the hard tracks, but I feel so alive. I relish the adventure of being on my own, self-reliant and with no one to worry about or answer to.
When the rain stops and the sun comes out, the grassy uplands glow almost neon-bright. I stop to drink peaty water from a burn and fantasise about living in the tiny wooden hut on the sandy shores of the loch. It’s my third night of camping and the best so far, just me and the geese, but I feel completely safe and relaxed within nature.
The next day, my fourth on the trail, I’m on a mission. I need to get some provisions from the Glen Affric hostel and do a solid 10 miles so that I only have a shortish walk the day after to catch the bus. I hike as fast as I can until I finally see the hostel ahead – this tiny outpost is among Scotland’s most remote hostels. I put out my tent to dry on their fence and get to the door. “Shut between 10.00 and 17.00”.
Wild camping above Loch Affric. Photograph: Alice Morrison
Disconsolate, I sit at the side and contemplate my life choices. Then, a woman shrieks as she sees me unexpectedly – Chrissie, who runs the hostel and kindly lets me in to buy chocolate, crisps and a fizzy drink. Sugar and fat consumed, I feel whole again and happily share a story of camels and Saudi hospitality for the sound art project she is doing. She is recording poems, stories and songs from people who stay in the hostel for an exhibition.
I continue onwards, struggling on the ups. With a couple of miles to go, my pack feels as if it’s full of rocks. I try to focus on the waterfalls all around me, dashing loudly down the rocks to meet the rivers Affric and Croe.
I walk down to a small, flat clearing beside one of them. It’s the perfect camp spot, but if I stop now I’ve failed to reach my 10-mile goal. The sun comes out and I see there’s even a flat rock to sit on. I throw my manufactured goals and failure guilt to the wind and pitch my tent.
No billionaire is richer than I am that night in that place. I sit on my rock looking out over the peaks and listening to the music of the water. Tomorrow, I will eat my porridge and walk out by the river to the bus and everyday life. But for tonight I am queen of the world.
Lisa had initially stayed in the area of Keratsini, 5.9 miles (9.5km) west of central Athens, with Greek friends.
She had told them that on 15 July she would go to Kypseli, where her “American friends” or acquaintances were.
On Saturday Greek police said they were fast-tracking toxicology reports in order to ascertain the cause of her death, potentially “in the coming days”.
Test results can take anywhere from several weeks to a few months depending on the complexity of the case and the workload of forensic laboratories.
They were also looking to trace Lisa’s American friends, who they said were also staying in Kypseli.
First Minister John Swinney called it an “absolutely appalling case”.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “This is an extremely distressing time for the family of Elisabeth-Jane Ross and it is important that their privacy is respected while enquiries continue.
“Scottish government officials are in communication with the family and with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure they receive appropriate support.
“As this remains an operational matter for Police Scotland, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
Hearts’ players were on the brink of history and immortality. It was nine minutes away.
Four decades of Old Firm dominance was that close to toppling. The season-long league leaders were drawing with holders Celtic in Glasgow as the game crept into the 87th minute.
It looked like they were just about to hold until Daizen Maeda struck to trigger bedlam in Paradise.
Ugly scenes followed Celtic’s third deep into injury time as Hearts headed straight for the team bus, eventually reemerging outside Tynecastle with tears spilling from their faces.
Since then, the backbone of that team has been deconstructed. Boss Derek McInnes has departed for Tynecastle, taking with him captain and talisman Lawrence Shankland, as well as midfield controller Cammy Devlin.
Wouter Vrancken has arrived from Sint-Truiden and the Belgian has suffered a tumultuous start.
A 6-0 hiding from Sturm Graz sent Hearts tumbling out of Champions League qualifying, with the Tynecastle support looking at the club’s analytical approach to signings to somehow hoist them back to the lofty heights they hit last term.
“Hearts just look as if it’s just a new squad flung in together, with the manager too, trying to find their way,” said former striker Ryan Stevenson.
“You don’t get time in football, it’s game after game after game.
“If you don’t get results, we all know what Tynecastle is like. It can be electric, but can they deal with the stadium turning? Are they big enough characters to deal with that?
“If they don’t play well, I would give it to mid-September, and it would not be nice.”
Megan Keith was the sole Scottish representative in the women’s 10,000m after McColgan dropped out.
Despite a swell of cheers from the crowd at every pass, the Inverness runner was unable to replicate the iconic 2022 performance of her compatriot, finishing ninth in a time of 32:22.11.
Canada’s formidable Olympic hammer champion Ethan Katzberg drew gasps of awe from the Glasgow crowd with his herculean throw of 80.97m, which set a Commonwealth record.
But the biggest cheers in the hammer were reserved for Scotland’s Chris Bennett, competing in his fourth and final Games.
He finished fifth with his longest throw of 69.48m, clearly emotional as he wrapped up a 24-year career.
Alexander Thomson – who trains just down the road at Victoria Park and had fought back from knee surgery – finished ninth in the T38 100m final.
Jemma Reekie comfortably booked her place in the semi-finals of the 800m, finishing second in her heat with a time of 2:03.09 behind England’s world indoor 1,500m champion Georgia Hunter Bell.
Erin Wallace also booked her place in the semi-finals with a time of 2:03.15, but Mena Scatchard just missed out on qualification by 0.06 seconds after finishing fourth in her heat.
In the early sessions, Stephen Mackenzie got Scotland off to a strong start as he progressed to the men’s long jump final on Wednesday.
A second-round leap of 7.75m was enough to see him through in eighth place.
Meanwhile, hammer thrower Angela McAuslan-Kelly progressed to the women’s final, with a throw of 60.59m in the first round securing her place.
Laird was originally predicted to be a follow-up to Yellowstone set in the Scottish Highlands.
Hayley Anderson Screen Time TV Reporter
19:00, 22 Jul 2026
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. (Image: GETTY)
Laird is officially on the way, jam-packed with “family feuds, buried secrets and star-crossed romances”.
Paramount Plus has given the green light for Scottish Highlands drama Laird, described as an “epic family saga in which a proud Scot defies a shadowy American billionaire hellbent on buying up the glens”.
It has also been confirmed that this Laird of Castle Drummoch, who is “determined to protect his ancestral lands from oligarchical land grabbing” will be played by none other than Oscar-winning star Kenneth Branagh.
He is famed for blockbuster films like Belfast, Dunkirk, Agatha Christie’s Hercules Poirot and Oppenheimer.
Earlier this month, there were rumours flying that Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan was behind Laird with yet another prequel, following in the footsteps of his hugely successful series 1883 and 1923.
No new Yellowstone prequel series from Sheridan has been announced apart from 1944 which was previously confirmed by Paramount Plus.
So Laird appears to be an entirely separate project from the Yellowstone universe with its creators behind three other big shows.
Laird will be brought to life by Paramount Plus’ Mobland creator Jez Butterworth, Nine Perfect Strangers’ John-Henry Butterworth and The 100’s Georgia Lee.
Branagh is also going to be working behind the cameras as an executive producer and Darkest Hour filmmaker Joe Wright will be directing the pilot.
Describing the upcoming Scottish drama, head of originals for Paramount Plus Jane Wiseman said: “At its heart, Laird is about one man standing his ground against unchecked wealth and power.
“There’s something universally resonant about watching someone fight to protect what matters most, and with Kenneth Branagh leading the series, and an equally remarkable creative team, we can’t wait for audiences to root for the Laird of Castle Drummoch.”
President at Paramount Television Studios Matt Thunell added: “Jez, John-Henry, and Georgia have imagined a gripping drama that explores how far one family will go to protect their land and legacy.
“With Kenneth Branagh starring and Joe Wright directing, this is a singular creative team, and we are thrilled to once again partner with 101 Studios to bring this series to Paramount+.”
-17 T Kim (Kor); -15 MW Lee (Aus); -13 R MacIntyre (Sco),M Fitzpatrick (Eng),J Keefer (US), K Nakajima (Jpn); -12 M Thorbjornsen (US), R McIlroy (NI); -11 SW Kim (Kor), V Perez (Fra)
Selected others: -9 T Fleetwood (Eng), V Hovland (Nor); -4 J Rahm (Spa), -2 J Thomas (US)
————————————————
Tom Kim’s drought is over. The South Korean shed tears of joy and relief after excelling on a compelling final day at the Genesis Scottish Open to claim his first title in three years.
Kim has endured a form and confidence crisis since his previous victory – as well as plummeting down the world rankings – but served a reminder of his talents with a faultless 64 to finish 17 under at the Renaissance Club.
The 24-year-old has sought counsel from Tiger Woods during the dark times and revealed the 15-time major winner was among the first to congratulate him on this long-awaited victory.
He triumphed by two shots, with Min Woo Lee the runner-up as crowd favourite Bob MacIntyre faltered in pursuit of a second home title, ending four adrift alongside Matt Fitzpatrick.
MacIntyre, Lee and Fitzpatrick had shared the lead after the fog-disrupted third round, but it was Kim who surged from one back for a brilliant win. He was the only player in the field to avoid a bogey in the fourth round.
“I can’t really wrap my mind over it,” said an emotional Kim of his win. “It’s really special and I’m just at a loss for words.
“Obviously I’ve had a tough couple years. I got to taste a lot of that humble pie and I got to really learn about myself and I’m still trying to grow, still trying to learn.
“I’m definitely appreciating this more now than I did a couple years ago, which is really cool. I thought about my family, all the people around my corner that have suffered with me and also celebrated with me and kind of remembering all those people really brought tears to my eyes.
“Obviously on TGL being on Tiger’s team, I’ve been able to ask him questions on certain things. He’s been really helpful a lot of the time. This was my first win in three years, and the first person that texted me was Tiger Woods. Shows you the person he is and how much he cares.”
As well as a winner’s prize of £1.2m, Kim secures a place in next year’s Masters at Augusta National.
Rory McIlroy’s third-round 73 left the world number two with too big a deficit to overcome despite matching Kim’s closing six-under 64, the lowest score of the day.
Americans Michael Thorbjornsen and Johny Keefer, who tied for seventh and third respectively, will make their Open Championship debuts next week, while the other spot at Royal Birkdale goes to Frenchman Victor Perez.
World number one Scottie Scheffler misses the cut for the first time in 79 tournaments as he bogeys the final hole of his second round of the Scottish Open.
Head coach Danny Rohl’s exit from Rangers, to be replaced with Heart of Midlothian’s Derek McInnes, appears to move closer as Barney Stewart is reportedly poised to be sold by Falkirk to West Bromwich Albion.
Contracts have been agreed for head coach Danny Rohl’s switch from Rangers to RB Salzburg and for Hearts’ Derek McInnes to arrive at Ibrox as his replacement, but talks are continuing about the German’s desire to take his backroom team with him. (Scottish Sun), external
Rangers are set to receive a £2m compensation fee when head coach Danny Rohl’s switch to RB Salzburg is completed. (The National), external
Senior Hearts officials will interview candidates this week as they prepare for head coach Derek McInnes’ departure for Rangers after compiling a shortlist and hope to make an appointment within 10 days. (Edinburgh Evening News), external
Hearts officials have already held informal talks with head coach candidates from Britain and abroad as they prepare to appoint a new head coach ahead of the first-team reporting back to the Oriam on 25 June before flying out to Spain for a warm-weather training camp. (Hearts Standard), external
Motherwell are down to the final three candidates for their new manager and Gonçalo Feio, who took over at Tondela in March before their relegation from the Portuguese top flight, is among them but also has options in Portugal, Poland and Scandinavia. (Ben Jacobs on X), external
Former Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has agreed a deal to become Feyenoord head coach for a second time after leaving his role as Liverpool assistant. (Fabrizio Romano on X), external
Bayer Leverkusen have made fresh contact with Rangers amid interest in centre-back Emmanuel Fernandez, but there is significant other interest in the 24-year-old for whom the Ibrox club want at least £25m. (TeamTalk), external
Bailey Rice has agreed a new contract with Rangers and will put pen to paper later this week despite interest from Ajax, Schalke, Leeds United, Nottingham Forrest and West Ham United in the 19-year-old midfielder. (Daily Record), external
West Bromwich Albion are close to finalising the seven-figure signing of 22-year-old striker Barney Stewart from Falkirk. (Daily Record), external
Scottish Rugby has imposed a 12-month ban on Alloa RFC president Alan Stewart attending matches following an after-dinner speech, described as “racist, homophobic and sexist” by some present.
Stewart has also been suspended from holding any role within the game over the same time period.
Multiple objections were made following remarks by Stewart during Musselburgh RFC’s annual dinner on 18 April and an independent disciplinary panel has upheld a misconduct complaint.
Stewart, who can appeal against the decision, has also been instructed to undergo equality, diversity and inclusion training.
Charges against Musselburgh RFC and their president were not upheld.
In April, the board of Musselburgh RFC issued an apology to those who attended, saying: “We particularly wish to recognise and acknowledge the hurt caused to our women’s team, who we are extremely proud of and to whom we are committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment.”
The club criticised the “very poor judgement of the speaker” and said he had sent a written apology.
In a statement issued at the same time, Scottish Rugby said it is “committed to equality, diversity and inclusion at every level of the game”, adding: “There is no place for discriminatory behaviour in our sport, or in wider society.”
BBC Scotland has approached Stewart and Alloa RFC for comment.
Olid had left Hearts hinting that, despite winning the league title for the first time in their history, she was not going to be given the financial backing she wanted next season.
There is a sense that the domestic women’s game has lost a bit of the momentum in terms of public excitement and backing from their parent clubs it had when Celtic were first to go full-time professional in 2019 and Rangers, Hibs and Hearts soon followed.
However, former Partick Thistle manager Brian Graham suggested: “Over the last five or six years, the standard of the women’s game in Scotland is definitely getting better – and it’s only going one way.
“I would love to see it getting supported and backed a little bit more at times. We want to see more fans in here today.”
As for the Hampden protagonists, Graham thought Celtic deserved their victory because of the way they defended resolutely after their goal – and because Rangers did not make the most of their one-player advantage.
“They lost the League Cup to Glasgow City, they lost the league on the last day, now they’ve lost the Scottish Cup on the last day of the season.” he pointed out.
“So she [Crichton] will be bitterly disappointed because, over the piece, she’s had a good first season but just not got over that final hurdle for silverware.
“However, Leanne has done an incredible job after coming from Motherwell as assistant.”
Graham agreed with Scott – that Celtic have the momentum going into the new season.
“Believe me, there will have been a bit of self-doubt among these Celtic players this afternoon knowing the fact they had not beaten Rangers in 10 games,” he said.
“They know it’s not been the season they wanted, but winning here, it will give them that belief going into next season.
“Congratulations to him [Scott] getting the first piece of silverware in a short period of time.
“He knows he’s going to have a big summer. He’ll have payers going out, he’ll have players coming in. It’s a rebuild situation at Celtic now.
“This is where he can really put his stamp on it moving on to next season. You can really judge him next season.
“Hearts winning the league and their manager leaving, there’s going to be a big upheaval there too.
“They’ll want to get players in, but they have a strong nucleus of a squad, although you never know, some of those players might get moves and the manager coming in.”
Former Rangers midfielder Clare Gemmell pointed out that it is “phenomenal” that the SWPL has had five different winners in the last five seasons.
Will Celtic build on their Hampden triumph as they aim for a second title and first since 2024?
