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{ CELTIC midfielder Beram Kayal believes his club are poised for a lengthy spell of domestic dominance if Neil Lennon's longer term future as manager is secured.Lennon is out of contract this summer with the offer of a new deal understood to be dependent on Celtic winning the Scottish Premier League title this season.

Sunday's 3-0 defeat of Rangers at Celtic Park left Lennon's team eight points clear of the defending champions, who have two games in hand, and has seen their odds on lifting the trophy shorten to as little as 1-3 with some bookmakers.

Kayal, one of a raft of new signings Lennon has gradually moulded into an effective unit over the course of the campaign, has no doubt the manager has already proved himself worthy of an extended tenure.

The 22-year-old Israeli international has emerged as a key performer in a squad he says are committed to bringing sustained success to Celtic over the next few seasons.

"The manager has made this team and it's fantastic," said Kayal.

"Sometimes people forget this is a new team, we have brought in 13 or 14 new players this season. But the team has gelled together very quickly and I think it is because of the manager.

"We are a very young team and if you look at us, then we could be playing together at Celtic for the next three or four years. The manager has built it, so hopefully it's the same for him.

"We have good young players and a good manager. He makes us all feel special, and we all try 100 per cent for him. Together we could have good success. I am learning from him every day in training and all the players feel the same. We have a lot of talent but the manager pushes us
every day and that's why we are a strong team."

Celtic stretched their current unbeaten run to 17 matches on Sunday, 12 of them victories, and remain in pursuit of all three domestic trophies.

They face Rangers in the Scottish Cup fifth-round replay at Celtic Park next Wednesday and will take on their great rivals again in the Co-operative Insurance Cup final at Hamdpen on 20 March.

The form of several of Lennon's recruits during the undefeated sequence, including Kayal, Honduran left-back Emilio Izaguirre and striker Gary Hooper, has attracted growing attention from English Premier League clubs. Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who attended Sunday's Old Firm game, is the latest to be credited with an interest in Izaguirre. Kayal, however, believes there is a collective desire among the Celtic squad to remain part of a potentially exciting era for the club.

"I am here and happy at Celtic," added Kayal. "I have a long contract and I want to stay here. Really, I feel at home.

"I feel I could play here for the next five or six years with the manager and these players. Great credit must go to the manager for putting us all together and making us feel we have been playing together for years.

"Every day, every game, everyone here wants to play better and we try every game to continue our good form. I think I will learn more here than anywhere else.

"I am learning English and football, so it's fantastic for me to stay here.

"This club has so many talented players. But, not only that, every player really believes we are going to win every game. It is too early to say whether we can win every game until the end of the season, but we will try to do that.

"Rangers are a good team as well, but our manager has given us confidence.

"We are together and push each other to win.

"I don't think we are favourites to win the league yet.

" I was very happy we beat Rangers on Sunday, but we have to give respect to the other teams as well and make sure we focus just as much on every game we play."

Kayal limped out of the Old Firm showdown after 61 minutes with a hamstring strain but is confident it will not force him to miss any matches.

He is suspended for Celtic's next SPL fixture, against Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday, in any case.

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Labels: Beram, Celtic, future, happy, Kayal, Lennon, Scotsman

{

Nico Rosberg said he was happy with the improved reliability of his Mercedes W02 after setting the pace on the third day of F1 testing in Barcelona.

Having suffered the lions share of problems with the new car during testing to date, Rosberg enjoyed a solid day of running for the second successive day as he added another 92 laps to the 131 he managed on Saturday.

Although damp conditions limited his running on Sunday morning, Rosberg was able to run through his testing programme during the afternoon with a series of longer runs on track as Mercedes worked on getting a better understanding of the new Pirelli tyres.

The German then posted the fastest time of the day during a qualifying simulation completed late in the day, which prevented Vitaly Petrov from taking bragging rights for Renault.

"It was interesting running with the intermediates this morning and, although the warm-up is tricky, we definitely improved our understanding of the tyres,? Rosberg said. ?Our long runs this afternoon included some aero work in preparation for our next upgrade package before going into lower-fuel, new-tyre running at the end of the day.

?We made good progress in understanding the car and the tyres, and the reliability was solid once again. Overall, I've enjoyed two positive and productive days here in Barcelona."

Michael Schumacher will be back at the wheel for the final day of the test on Monday.

To view times from the third day of running in Barcelona, CLICK HERE.

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Labels: Eurosport, happy, improved, reliability, Rosberg, Yahoo

{ Samir Nasri gives Arsenal the lead against Leeds United (Getty Images)Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri is set to sign a new contract tying him at the club for five more years, according to his agent.

The 23-year-old French international has emerged as a key player in manager Arsene Wenger’s side since arriving in England from Marseille in 2008, and has been a key perfomer this season, chipping in with nine Premier League goals with the club still very much in the title race.

Nasri’s current contract is set to expire in 2012, with the rumour mill hinting at a summer bid from Barcelona if the Spanish giants fail to bring in the Frenchman's team-mate Cesc Fabregas.

However, agent Jean-Pierre Barnes has indicated that the French star is close to signing a new contract at Arsenal, which is expected to keep him at the club until 2016.

He told the Daily Express: "Samir is happy at the club, the coach believes in him, the directors believe in him as well.

“He said to me, ‘You won’t believe the great atmosphere in the changing room, I’ve rarely experienced anything like this’.

"Samir has done his three seasons with Arsenal and the wise thing to do is to stay with this club.”

Nasri is currently out injured for the Gunners after picking up a hamstring in the 2-1 victory in the FA Cup against Hudderfield on Saturday and could be out for the forthcoming Champions League clash with Barcelona. if (typeof hideMashLogic == 'undefined' || (!hideMashLogic)){ document.write(''); document.write(''); }


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Labels: agent, Arsenal, expected, Goalcom, happy, Nasri, Samir