What have Scottish Premiership clubs done during World Cup break?

But that's not to say it has been a quiet time for Scottish clubs.

A managerial switch, two very early January signing announcements, a season-ending injury and a chairman standing down would attest to that.

Here's what every club has done during the World Cup break.

Celtic

Ange Postecoglou has already earned a reputation for getting his transfer business done early in the summer, and particularly the January window.

Things are no different this year with Celtic having already announced two January additions.

Alistair Johnston - fresh from his Canada World Cup appearance - and Yuki Kobayashi both penned five-year deals which will officially begin in January.

The pair boost Postecoglou's defensive ranks, however, there is speculation that Giorgos Giakoumakis and Josip Juranovic could leave next month.

The striker is reportedly keen on a move to the Premier League after turning down a new deal and Juranovic is not short of European suitors having increased his stock on the world stage with Croatia.

Celtic squeezed in trips to Australia and Portugal during the break too. They first played Sydney FC and Everton in the Sydney Super Cup before a warm-up match against Rennes in Portugal at the weekend with the French side running out 4-3 winners.

Rangers

It has been a seriously busy period at Ibrox. Giovanni van Bronckhorst was dismissed in the days after the score draw with St Mirren and Michael Beale was quickly appointed.

The former QPR boss has knocked back an approach from Wolves but couldn't turn down a return to Ibrox as he headed back north bringing coaching team Neil Banfield, Harry Watling and Damian Matthew with him.

Beale kicked off his Rangers reign with a 3-0 friendly win over Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend as he gave players a chance to stake their claim for a spot in the team.

After the match he also revealed, perhaps in an unexpected boost, that Connor Goldson could return for Thursday's match as he is well ahead of schedule in his injury comeback. Ben Davies could also return this week.

There was also the small matter of the club AGM earlier this month. Eight resolutions were presented to shareholders and every motion passed - including those on Douglas Park's re-appointment as a director and new powers for the board to issue new shares and hand-pick favoured investors.

Aberdeen

Aberdeen headed straight to the States when Scottish Premiership action was paused for the World Cup.

Jim Goodwin led his side to Atlanta where they played out a 1-0 win over Atlanta United in the first meeting of the clubs since a strategic partnership was announced in 2019.

Leighton Clarkson scored the only goal in the match before the Aberdeen squad, Goodwin and chairman Dave Cormack attended a fan event to meet a 200-strong crowd.

Aberdeen announced an operating loss of £5.29million in the club accounts last month - despite turnover increasing by £2.79m to £13.86m.

The club heralded the financial update as a "steady recovery from the profound impact of the pandemic".

Aberdeen will also hold its AGM tonight, it begins at 7pm.

Livingston

With their own fixtures paused for the World Cup, Livingston began the break by shining a light on a neighbouring club. 

The Lions partners with East of Scotland League side Stoneyburn FC to #SupportLocal in a "social media takeover".

The selfless gesture saw the Stoneyburn match against Fauldhouse United promoted on Livingston social channels as the club supported Junior football with manager Davie Martindale, coach Gary Maley and record apperance holder Scott Pittman all having played at a Junior level during their playing careers.

Martindale's men then took on a managerless QPR in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the tail-end of November to ramp up preparations for the return to domestic action.

Joel Nouble netted for the Lions but strikes from Sinclair Armstrong and Macauley Bonne saw QPR take victory in the bounce match.

Hearts

Hearts began the World Cup break by announcing their annual financial update as the club posted a £3million operational profit.

In the year where the club was transferred to the fans, record retail and hospitality sales alongside gate receipts and sponsorships led to a £6.9m year-on-year increase in turnover to £14.6m.

Hearts played friendlies against Swansea - at Tynecastle - Blackburn and UD Almeira in Marbella.

Robbie Neilson's side fell to a 2-1 defeat to Swnasea at Tynecastle with Euan Henderson the scorer for the Jambos as Jay Fulton and Joel Piroe notched for Swansea.

Hearts then took on Blackburn at the Marbella Sports Center earlier this month. Neilson's side slipped to a 4-0 loss.

Their final friendly against Almeira was abandoned at the break after a brawl broke out on the pitch. Hearts were leading before Alex Cochrane and Rodrigo Ely were sent off after the furious scenes. The match was then abandoned.

St Johnstone

While from the outside it may appear to have been a quiet month for St Johnstone, there was huge news from McDiarmid Park just days ago.

It wasn't on the pitch but instead in the boardroom. Steve Brown announced he would stand down from his role as chairman at the end of May next year.

He has overseen the most successful period in the club's history. St Johnstone have been ever-present in the top-flight, won the Scottish Cup in 2014 and the historic Scottish and League Cup double in 2021.

Brown is set to depart his role on May 31, with his father Geoff Brown to take over in the role from June 1.

Brown Sr is looking to sell his shareholding in the club and will hand over the running of the club when a sale is complete.

In an added classy gesture, Brown will also donate the net proceeds of his shareholding sale to the St Johnstone Community Trust.

St Mirren

Much of St Mirren's break was spent watching and supporting history-maker Keanu Baccus.

The Australian midfielder wrote his name into the history books in Paisley becoming the first St Mirren player to play at the World Cup.

He featured in all four of his side's matches including starting against Argentina in the round of 16 tasked with marking Messi.

The former Western Sydney Wanderers player earned his club a small fortune through his international selection - but boss Stephen Robinson is wary he could be a wanted man next month.

While the Buddies boss ramps up preparations with bounce games before domestic action resumes, he's expecting to be fielding calls of interest in a number of his players in January - not least in Baccus who has been widely tipped for a big move.

Robinson is not in a position to add to his squad unless there are departures but has signalled he'd much rather keep his squad together and bat away interest in the January window.

Hibs

A season-ending injury and the confirmation a key player will be moving on were the headlines at Easter Road.

Martin Boyle was fired ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on a knee injury.

The winger came off against St Mirren with a suspected meniscus injury. However, scans revealed a pre-existing "ruptured anterior cruciate ligament" that needed corrective surgery.

In a less than ideal couple of weeks for Lee Johnson, the club confirmed Ryan Porteous would not sign a new contract.

The Scotland international, 23, knocked back a "highly-improved" deal at Easter Road and is set to depart at the end of the season.

Hibs could cash in on the centre-back in January, but Johnson revealed his plans focus on moving out fringe players next month.

Motherwell

It has been fairly quiet on the pitch for Motherwell over the break with just one noted friendly during the World Cup break.

However, the club continued their stellar mental health and community work with a third kit launched with all profits to be split between Samaritans, Breathing Space, Childine and Chris's House.

The third kit, named the Darkness to Light luminous third strip was launched to continue the fight against suicide as well as promoting a positive mental health message.

In their action on the pitch, Motherwell took on Tottenham Hotspur in London. The hosts ran out 4-0 winners with Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Gil and a Matt Doherty brace earning victory for the Premier League side.

Ross County

Malky Mackay took his side to the Pinatar Sports Arena in Spain for a week-long training camp during the World Cup break. 

The club announced that players were taking part in gruelling double sessions in the Spanish heat each day during the camp.

Mackay told the club website: “It was clear to see when they came back to Dingwall the week before Spain, that after giving the players a bit of time off they were ready to get back at it.

“Having the ability to take them away from Dingwall for a week gives them something else to think about, it keeps everything fresh and breaks up this long 5-week layoff for everybody involved.

“I have to thank the Chairman, Roy MacGregor, for allowing us to get to Spain. We are extremely lucky to have a Chairman like Roy who understands the huge benefits a camp like this can have and the high-performance platform it can also provide.”

Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock are another club who appears to have kept themselves to themselves during the World Cup break.

While there was little information on bounce matches played during the break, it's safe to assume Derek McInnes has been working his side hard during the break.

It's understood Killie played friendly matches against St Mirren and St Johnstone.

The manager led the club back to the top-flight last season and stayed on for a first crack back in the Scottish Premiership this season.

The club currently sit 11th in the standings with 15 points from their opening 16 matches - putting them three points clear of Dundee United at the bottom.

Dundee United

Another man who will have been keen to work with his players during the break would have been Liam Fox.

The Tannadice boss is aiming to turnaround a nightmare start to the season which saw Jack Ross sacked.

During the break he added Charlie Mulgrew to his backroom staff with the veteran defender appointed as a player/coach.

The club also announced a profit of £300,000 during the break with the annual financial update released. The profit was an improvement of over £2.8million from the year previous with turnover rising to £8.3m and wages/turnover reduced from 132 percent to 71 percent.

Dylan Levitt joined the Wales international set-up during the break but did not make an appearance at the World Cup.

Back in Dundee and United played Swansea in a friendly match where the Championship side ran out 2-0 winners. A scheduled match against Ayr United was postponed due to illness at the Somerset park club.

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