Rangers forcing through the sale of Kenny Miller
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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