Snow Patrol, a shaved head & a team of new signings - deadline day in Scotland

By Jamie LyallBBC Scotland
Marc McNulty, Snow Patrol, man shaving head
Marc McNulty, Snow Patrol and a man's pledge to shave his head all featured on deadline day in Scotland

One manager turned his phone off and went to a gig. A club signed an entire team of new recruits. And another's media team were told to go to bed rather than announce a signing. Deadline day is never dull in Scotland.

The morning after the January transfer window shut, we bring you the best of the action, dealings and banter across Scottish football. Brace yourselves...

'I'm going to watch Snow Patrol'

It was a quiet evening in Gorgie. Hearts manager Craig Levein had no interest in late-night dealings. Nope, he was happy with his squad and hatched a cunning plan to avoid any unwanted departures...

"I'm going to watch Snow Patrol tonight, my phone will be off. Brilliant, eh? I don't see [anyone leaving]. It will be hard to get hold of me."

Celtic add to their 'million wingers'

Earlier this month, Brendan Rodgers said he already had "about a million wingers" at his disposal as Celtic negotiated a deal for Ukrainian wide man Maryan Shved, a player the manager didn't "know a great deal about".

Well, he's got a million-and-one to utilise now after 21-year-old Shved's move was finalised on Thursday.

American defenders Manny Perez, 19, and Andrew Gutman, 22, also signed for the Scottish champions. Each of the young trio is regarded as a future prospect. Each has been loaned out for now.

Celtic are hardly short of central midfielders either and have loaned Youssouf Mulumbu back to Kilmarnock, where he was so influential last season - a fine bit of business for the Ayrshire side.

Of Celtic's four deadline-day signings, only Borussia Dortmund right-back Jeremy Toljan is likely to see any first-team action this term.

No boss? No problem

Marc McNulty celebrates Coventry City's promotion
Marc McNulty's goals helped fire Coventry City to promotion to League One last year

You hardly expect managerless clubs to be abuzz with transfer activity but Easter Road was one of the busiest venues on deadline day.

In fairness, Hibernian's need for new recruits was obvious and targets had been identified well before Neil Lennon's sudden and mysterious exit. And their structure, with a director of football sitting above the currently vacant head coach's position, helped Hibs continue to supplement their squad even in the wake of his departure.

In on loan came Reading's Marc McNulty, a Scottish striker with a good CV, Leicester defender Darnell Johnson and, somewhat out of left field, Gael Bigirimana on a permanent deal from Motherwell.

Some shiny new players for a new boss to work with. But the Hibs fans will have to wait a little longer for their darling Scott Allan's return - the club could not negotiate his early release from Celtic.

Dundee Utd sign an entire team

If Hibs had a busy deadline day, Dundee United's was positively bonkers.

Five players joined the Championship club on Thursday, taking their January haul to 11 arrivals. That's right, an entire team's worth of new signings. And look, you can even slot them into a decent formation...

Dundee United have signed a whole new team in the month of January
Dundee United have signed a whole new team in the month of January

There are some familiar names in amongst that lot. Osman Sow, Mark Reynolds and Peter Pawlett have all operated near the business end of the top flight and Robbie Neilson will fancy the additions to propel United, currently third in the table, to promotion.

St Mirren sent to bed

These days, clubs vie to invent the most creative and entertaining method of unveiling a new signing on social media.

In their quest for a quirky reveal, St Mirren posed their Twitter followers the option: should they announce a new striker or go to bed? The poll didn't have the intended outcome...

St Mirren tweet

...prompting this response...

St Mirren tweetSt Mirren tweet

Obviously, St Mirren did announce the signing of a new striker, Haiti international Duckens Nazon.

St Mirren tweet

And they had a bit of fun at the expense of a fan who tried to call their bluff. This unfortunate fella deleted the tweet in which he pledged to shave his head if St Mirren actually did sign a striker. Sadly for him, the social media folk in Paisley had were fleet-fingered enough to snap a screenshot...

St Mirren tweet

Kamara gets his move

In one of the final deals of the window, Rangers and Dundee negotiated Glen Kamara's early shift from Dens Park to Ibrox.

The Finland midfielder had already signed a pre-contract agreement with Rangers but Dundee boss Jim McIntyre, who has not played him in 2019, reckoned a January move was "best for all parties".

So, Kamara is free to join Steven Gerrard's squad on a four-and-a-half-year contract.

Oh, and because he hasn't played this calendar year, Kamara can feature for his new team in the Scottish Cup, with Rangers travelling to Kilmarnock in the last 16 next Saturday.

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