Ex-Hearts man lands interim manager role as former Hibs striker completes Premiership return

The latest headlines from the Scottish Premiership as a former Hearts star earns his first managerial role and an ex-Hibs striker returns to Scotland.

Lawrence Shankland was once again the hero for Hearts as they continued their 100 percent record in 2024 with a hard fought 1-0 victory over St Johnstone.

However, their city-rivals Hibs were less fortunate in their 2-1 home defeat against champions Celtic. Nick Montgomery’s side were denied a hard fought point in the final moments of the game as Adam Idah slotted in a stoppage time penalty for the Hoops.

Both capital clubs will now turn their attention to the fifth round of the Scottish Cup where they will be paired with Championship opposition. Steven Naismith’s Hearts will make the trip to The Excelsior Stadium to take on Airdrieonians while Hibs will travel to Duncan Ferguson’s Inverness CT.

In the meantime there are plenty of developments taking place in the division and Hearts and Hibs Premiership rivals confirm the appointment of an interim manager, whilst two ex-Norwich City pundits give their verdict on Celtic’s man of the moment Adam Idah. A former Hibee has also returned to Scotland.

Ross County confirm new interim manager as Derek Adams’ third spell ends in disaster 

Ross County have appointed former Hearts midfielder Don Cowie as their interim manager after the resignation of Derek Adams.

Adams’ third spell at Ross County lasted just 79 days as he managed to take just nine points from 11 games. The 48-year-old’s tenure was marred by a controversial interview where he criticised the standard of Scottish football after a defeat to Dundee in December and his decision to resign came shortly after a demoralising 5-0 defeat to Motherwell. 

Cowie served as an assistant to Adams and successor Mackay and also spent nine seasons as a player at Dingwall across two spells. His journey as Ross County boss begins with a challenging league trip to Rangers on 14 February, with a visit to Dundee to follow.

New Celtic signing divides opinion with ex-Norwich City duo

Adam Idah broke the hearts of the Hibs faithful with a dramatic winner in the dying moments of the game.  Idah was a threat on his debut and is hoping to play a key role in side’s pursuit of silverware in the league and Scottish Cup. Former Norwich striker Robert Earnshaw has backed Idah to be a roaring success in Glasgow. He told LiveScore: "I like him. I like him as a player. I think he's good. He shows some real good qualities.

"I think going to Celtic sometimes can just open you up and be like, ‘yeah, this is a great platform’, and your confidence is then sky-high. Maybe he needs something like that. I think it's an unbelievable move.”

Fellow Norwich City legend Chris Sutton, who also notably played for Celtic, was less quick to praise the signing and was critical of the strikers goal return in the Championship. Sutton explained that Norwich will be disappointed in the player’s goal record given his promise in the academy. He explained: "Both parties will likely feel dissatisfied with how it has gone, but there does come a time when he's had enough opportunities, and he's not made it happen for himself.”

Former Hibs striker returns to Scotland

Oli Shaw has made his move back to Motherwell on loan from Barnsley for the rest of the season. The striker headed back down the road in January after picking up an injury. He failed to score in his 16 league games for the Steelmen, but only a couple of those were starts. Shaw moved to Barnsley from Kilmarnock in 2023.

His career started at Easter Road, where he was highly-rated coming out of the academy. But he ended his Hibs spell with 12 goals in 65 games before leaving for Ross County in 2020. Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell said: "There was always the possibility of Oli coming back here. He returned to Barnsley as both clubs agreed there would be a chance he could reduce his recovery time down there. Oli will now enter the final stages of his recovery at Motherwell and will join up with the group when ready.”