Neil Lennon rewards SPL champions Celtic with holiday

Neil Lennon will reward his Celtic players for sealing the Scottish Premier League title by sending them on an early holiday.

The Parkhead men went into this afternoon’s match with Inverness needing a point to retain the championship and they turned on the style to run out 4-1 winners over the Highlanders.

Top scorer Gary Hooper hit a double, with Joe Ledley and Georgios Samaras also weighing in.

With the Scottish Cup final against Hibs more than a month away, Lennon will now reward his Double-chasing players with a week’s holiday.

He said: ‘There will be players getting a holiday now, from today. Four of them will get a holiday next week and after the Motherwell game (next weekend), there will be five getting a break.

‘Then we will have everyone back for the last two league games and then the cup final.’

Lennon revealed his overwhelming emotion was ‘one of immense pride in the players’.

The Northern Irishman said: ‘It is pretty special. I never take these things for granted so I hope the players enjoy the moment.’

Ledley turned his attention to next season’s Champions League after grabbing the second goal with a right-footed strike.

Gary Hooper had opened the scoring on the hour with a left-footed shot across Inverness keeper Antonio Reguero and the Celtic striker added a third when he flicked home Kris Commons’ driven cross.

Georgios Samaras crashed home the fourth goal from a tight angle before Aaron Doran netted an injury time consolation for Inverness.

Celtic face a battle to keep 28-goal striker Hooper and midfielder Victor Wanyama this summer but Ledley hopes the bulk of the side stay for another shot at Champions League qualification following this season’s run to the last 16.

The Welshman said: ‘There will always be ins and outs in football at every single club. We have a fantastic team and I’ll be very surprised if everyone stays.

‘Everyone has watched us in the Champions League and SPL, and there’s going to be a lot of interest in the majority of the players.

‘But if we can keep it together, we have a fantastic future and Celtic will go forward and, hopefully, qualify for the Champions League again.’

Hooper has been linked with several English Premier League clubs and, when asked if he will still be a Celtic player next season, he said: ‘We’ll see, won’t we?’

Inverness manager Terry Butcher said: ‘Celtic are worthy winners. They are difficult to stop when they are in that mood, especially when there is a title at stake.

Liverpool ‘would be mad’ not to back biting striker Luis Suarez, insists Joey Barton

Joey Barton is set to cause yet another Twitter storm after the Marseille midfielder said Liverpool ‘would be mad’ not to back Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan  during his side’s 

Despite almost unanimous criticism of Suarez from pundits, the media and fans on Twitter, Barton – never one to shirk an opportunity for controversy – decided to add his opinion into the mix, causing uproar as he called for Liverpool to back their divisive striker.

Suarez, who has previously been banned for seven matches for biting Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax just three years ago, is now set to face action from the Football Association.

But Barton believes the Uruguayan should be allowed to get away with his hungry antics because he is a good player.

‘Suarez is a good as a player as there is in world football at the minute. Yes, he’s messes up and shouldn’t have bitten another player, but a player like him has a right to play on the edge,’ Barton tweeted.

Jessica Alba: March's most fashionable

As a California girl through and through, we could forgive Jessica Alba the sin of turning up at frosty Paris Fashion Week in a puffa jacket - just about. But there's no climate the honey-skinned actress can't dress to perfection for, and she's spent the past month proving as much.

Partaking in Paris Fashion Week's headline acts with a front row seat at Stella McCartney, Kenzo and Valentino, the Sin City star also found herself in demand at Carine Roitfeld's stylish soiree to launch her second issue of C.R Fashion Book. Naturally, a cute, black Valentino frock adored with large bows was at her disposal.

Next stop on Alba's tour: back home to L.A, where her relaxed and occasionally grungy penchant for bright knits, ripped jeans and biker boots (by Zadig & Voltaire) are ideal for a busy mother-of-two who finds herself the daily subject of many a paparazzo's lens.

With only a couple of days to re-organise her closet, Alba was whisked off to New York City to promote her book, The Honest Life, a tome about making healthy living "fun, real and stylish".

Her designer friend Jenni Kane provided punchy florals for trouser-loving Alba to go with her leather-sleeved Michael Kors jacket, while she looked to Narciso Rodriguez for a teal, keyhole-cut dress for an appearance on Good Morning America.

Several photocalls later, and we now firmly know that Jessica loves the power of a bold jacket or pair of statement trousers worn with a dainty heel.

Back to the Golden State (that's a lot of travelling in 31 days) and Alba was running errands again in printed blazers, designer arm candy and negotiating a look by Mary Katrantzou for the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.

PSG president wants David Beckham’s stay extended

David Beckham’s amazing football career looks like it’s far from over, with the former Manchester United and Real Madrid superstar increasingly likely to stay at Paris St Germain for next season.

The club’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi is set to open talks with Beckham about extending his stay in the French capital.

The 37-year-old joined Carlo Ancelotti’s side on a five-month deal in January, and his contributions so far have been impressive, helping PSG to consolidate their position at the top of the French league, and setting up a Champions League quarter-final clash with Barcelona.

In the past few days, Beckham has spoken of his happiness in Paris, and he may well be enjoying the delights of the city for some time to come.

‘Recruiting David was one of my best decisions,’ Al-Khelaifi said in an interview with L’Equipe.

‘As a man, player, ambassador, he is exceptional. It creates something in this group. Everyone loves it.

‘We will talk with him. Whatever his decision, we support David. He is very happy in Paris. Frankly, we want to keep him with us next season.’

Beckham, who has started one match and made four substitute appearances since signing for PSG, confirmed on Saturday that he would be open to talks over an extension to his time with the French giants.

He told Le Parisien: ‘We’ll see. Who wouldn’t want to stay at a place like this?

‘It’s very special but I’m not getting any younger so we’ll see how I feel at the end of the season. It’s always nice to be wanted.’

Beckham’s storybook career has already seen him make over 100 appearances for England, playing at three World Cups. He helped Sir Alex Ferguson’s United to a host of trophies in his time with the club, and won a Spanish league title with Madrid, before spending five years with LA Galaxy

Sir Alex Ferguson: Defence ‘caught napping’ for Demba Ba strike

Sir Alex Ferguson admits his Manchester United players were ‘caught napping’ as Demba Ba’s wonder-strike sent Chelsea through to the FA Cup semi-finals.

 was enough to separate the sides in today’s replay at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues now set to face Manchester City at Wembley in two weeks.

And Ferguson admits his defence were caught out by Juan Mata’s pass which was expertly tucked away by Ba after 49 minutes.

‘We were comfortable in the first half and I couldn’t see them getting into the game or being any great threat to us. But the goal, as it always does, changed the game,’ he said.

‘We spoke about Ba and the experience we had with him a couple of years ago at Newcastle when he scored exactly the same type of goal. We were caught napping, to be honest. It wasn’t a good start for us right at the beginning of the second half.’

The visitors had chances to equalise through substitute Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez, who was denied by a stunning save from Petr Cech, but Ferguson admitted his side just couldn’t find the cutting edge to bring the scores level.

‘After that [Ba’s goal] I think we lacked the composure to win the game and create proper openings. We had a lot of possession but didn’t make the best use of it and they caused us quite a few problems on the counter-attack,’ added the Scot.

‘Fortunately we didn’t lose another goal, but I couldn’t really see us scoring either.’

Vogue Fashion’s Night Out moves to Manchester

Londoners looking forward to Vogue 's celebratory night of free cocktails and high street discounts will be sorely disappointed, as Fashion's Night Out is heading up north for 2013.

Thursday October 10 2013 will see Team Vogue descend upon Manchester's landmark Exchange Square for a joyous - and sometimes bank-account crippling - union of retailers and shoppers.

Manchester fashion behemoths Selfridges and Harvey Nichols have already signed up to take part in the celebration, with galleries, restaurants and museums also promising to open their doors to eager shoppers for the night.

Why the Manchester move? "Once at the heart of a vibrant textiles industry, Manchester's importance to fashion is unquestionable," notes Editor of Vogue , Alexandra Shulman. Whereas London has seen tens of thousands of shoppers enjoying the perks of Fashion's Night Out for the last four years, "we're looking forward to sharing this experience with a new audience," enthuses Shulman.

The future of the annual event was cast into uncertainty last month when it was announced that it would not take place in New York this year. It was masterminded by US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and her team in 2009 as a way of boosting the retail economy when the recession was at its gloomy peak.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber feud echoes row which killed my father, warns Jacques Villeneuve

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has likened the current feud between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber to the one which killed his racing driver father.

The Red Bull duo brought simmering tensions to the boil at last weekend’s Malasysian Grand Prix when Vettel overtook Webber to win the race despite both drivers being instructed by their team to hold their positions.

Villeneuve’s father, Gilles, was tragically killed in a 1982 accident while trying to beat the qualifying time of then Ferrari team-mate Didier Pironi.

The pair had fallen out at the previous Grand Prix at San Marino when Pironi defied team orders to pass Villeneuve on the final lap for victory – a situation Jacques believes Vettel and Webber would be wise to take heed of.

Villeneuve told Auto Bild: ‘It’s easy to make excuses but in the end, Vettel’s got the win and the points. Mark has nothing. It was a deliberate decision by Vettel.

‘The team give you the contract and pay you the money, and so you do what they want you to do. It’s very simple.

‘Ignoring is just plain wrong. The best example is my father and Didier Pironi. Just look at the problems that caused.

‘(Vettel’s) behaviour was just stupid. Such negative energy does not help the team. If he now needs help from Mark, he cannot be sure he will get it.’