The money man
Rangers are bracing their supporters for the January sale of Kenny Miller.
Despite talk of ‘billionaire’ Craig Whyte’s ‘imminent’ takeover Walter Smith has been delivering a very different message which doesn’t mention transfer window war-chests.
No January signings has been the word from Smith with even loan deals almost certainly ruled out.
By extension that also means that no new deals can be offered to any out of contract players with Miller and Sasa Papac both falling into that category.
In today’s Daily Record and the Sun the message is quite clear- Miller will leave in January with just the reasons for his departure to be finalised.
Since the start of the new season there has been various talk about a new deal and contract discussions without any real sign of progress being made.
Entering the final year of his three year contract was a big risk for Miller but the risk has now been turned on Rangers who either sell their leading scorer in mid-season or watch him leave for free in the summer after his best ever scoring season.
With the example of Kris Boyd fresh in mind it seems that the Ibrox decision makers will take £1m next month for the 31-year-old rather than watch him walk away in June.
The decision to sell Miller casts doubts over two key areas of Rangers finances.
In the summer they were allowed to splash out £4m on Nikica Jelavic and £1.5m for James Beattie which is good money in the SPL with both deals suggesting that the club’s finances had stabilised.
Whyte’s attempted takeover has been accepted with barely a dissenting voice in the media despite highly dubious claims that the Motherwell born 39-year-old is a billionaire.
Talk is cheap in football with every club guilty of talking themselves up for some reason.
Behind the takeover bluster coming out of Ibrox the club must be in a desperate position if they are forcing the sale of Miller for £1m.
If the Whyte takeover has any footballing ambitions you’d imagine that securing Miller to give Smith the best possible chance of winning the SPL would be the priority.
Hopefully Celtic will be looking in on this disarray as a golden opportunity to back Neil Lennon’s title bid.
A Celtic title win would be the biggest possible blow to Rangers finances- it’s time for the club to deliver and bring back the thunder to Celtic Park.
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‘Hopefully Celtic will be looking in on this disarray as a golden opportunity to back Neil Lennon’s title bid’
to the contrary Celtic will do what they always do. React to what Rangers do or more appropriately react to what Rangers dont do.
If Rangers lose Miller and dont sign anyone dont expect Celtic to do much either
I have been “aware” of this situation for a while..and , like you, been puzzled by it…..
Either Rankers are being , deliberately,taken back to the bare-bones …and then starting again from a debt-free situation…..( seems fair and reasonable if you’re the Bank)….
or….there are still serious underlying financial problems at Ipox ( HMRC notwithstanding)
It doesn’t make sense to sell Miller….and Walter Nosurname is adamant that he is off…NO MATTER WHAT…so what is the real situation ??
Only time will tell I guess….
Daniel: Based on previous “form”…I can understand your concerns and comments…..
I honestly believe, however, that the Board now realises that we’re coming to the crossroads..in a big way…and that problems NEED to be addressed….The support will not tolerate another wishy-washy approach in January…
I am convinced , therefore, that players will be brought in….
my concern, however, is….
will they be the right ones ??
why don’t we sign miller again
and sell him on again
for another healthy wee profit….again.
i’m sure the huns would just love that.
Clearly Smith is playing the reverse psychology card again. He wants these guys out because he knows the fans don’t want Miller since that day he kissed the Shamrock.
They hate him. But Smith is trying the game again, the way he did when trying to offload Kris Boyd and the way he tries to offload Bougherra and McGregor. They need the money, plain and simple.
But why should we even be thinking about what they are doing? Lennon needs to get focussed again. He lost that weeks ago and the recent run of results attest to this.
Lennon is showing great inexperience and making some horrendous errors. He needs to shtun his big mouth and let the results do his talking.
He needs to stop blaming players and remember who picked them in the first place! He also needs to stop looking at forwards and midfielders.
It may come as a surprise to him that whet we need today, have needed for years, and it looks like will need for years to come, are defenders who can do their job.
We have midfielders coming out of the woodwork! Get that defence sorted out Neil or you are going to be unemployed in May.