Scottish

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.

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+.”

Laird will air on Paramount Plus.

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Genesis Scottish Open final round

-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.

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?

Rangers’ Danny Rohl is among several names on Bayer Leverkusen’s shortlist for a new head coach, but Bild suggests that Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner is the top choice and Girona’s Michel is also a candidate. (Bulinews), external

Danny Rohl is not at risk of being sacked by Rangers and is unlikely to leave for Wolfsburg considering their relegation from the Bundesliga, but Union Berlin, in particular, and Bayer Leverkusen could be more attractive propositions amid Europe-wide interest in the 37-year-old. (Sky Germany), external

Kieran McKenna is committed to managing Ipswich Town after their promotion to the Premier League and will snub any advances from Celtic, Crystal Palace or Fulham this summer. (Football Insider), external

Celtic, Fulham and Rangers have made initial enquiries about winger Cameron Ashia, while Burnley, Cardiff City, Hoffenheim, Ipswich Town, Sheffield United and Stuttgart have registered an interest in the 21-year-old who could be available for as little as £500,000 despite Huddersfield Town taking an option to extend his contract by a further year. (Daily Mail), external

Celtic forward Daizen Maeda has emerged as a target for a number of Premier League clubs as the 28-year-old edges towards a move away from Glasgow this summer. (Football Insider), external

Lech Poznan have made a cut-price £2m offer for Celtic winger Luis Palma after the 26-year-old’s loan spell with the Polish club. (The National), external

Shin Yamada is on his way back to Celtic from the 25-year-old striker’s loan spell with Preussen Munster as head coach Alois Schwartz plans a squad overhaul following their relegation to Germany’s third tier. (The Herald), external

Celtic passed on signing Lewis Ferguson before the Scotland midfielder was sold for £2.5m by Aberdeen to Bologna in 2022 because they felt he was not good enough at penalty kicks, according to the 26-year-old’s agent. (Glasgow Times), external

In the Celtic dressing room, there is experience of reeling off wins to secure a title.

Winning their last five league games nods to the defending champions’ ability to harness experience.

They might not have been challenged to the final day much before, but in contrast to Hearts their winning experience is considerable.

“I honestly do feel that Celtic will be calm, just because they’ve been in this situation so many times before,” Halliday said.

“Now, some people don’t think that counts for much. For me, I personally do.

“Hearts have felt the pressure of being the team that’s been hunted for 30 weeks consecutively now, and they’ve handled it already extremely well.

“You talk about a manager’s role, I’ve no doubt whatsoever that Derek McInnes has played a huge part in that.”

O’Dea also believes that however different players and managers handle these situations, neither Celtic nor Hearts, who have come from behind to take points in their last five games, have shown signs of toiling.

“Both teams have an abundance of character,” he said.

“I don’t know if I could pick a winner in terms of the character from both groups, they’ve both shown it, so it makes for a good ending.”

The Scottish champions will receive £3.7m for reaching the Champions League play-off round, with another £16.1m to come should they reach the league stage.

That is before bonus payments of £1.73m per win, £605,000 per draw and £275,000 per finishing position in the table – with additional payments should they progress to the last 16 or beyond.

Reaching the Europa League proper guarantees £3.7m, with performance bonuses of £388,000 per win and £130,000 per draw.

There is £187,000 available for each position in the final Europa League table.

Performance bonus payments for the Conference League are £345,000 per win and £115,000 per draw, with £24,000 for each position in the table.

Should Celtic or Rangers finish third in the Premiership, it would be a multi-million drop in their expectations of income.

For Hearts, Champions League qualification would be game changing.

Even if they drop into the Europa League, this would bring in a guaranteed minimum of around £7.3m with ticket sales and other commercial revenues to be added.