Wacky Warbo expects £1m January signing
Fresh from an incredible nine match winning run to open his Ibrox career it seems that the former city trader is about to pull off the financial miracle of the century.
Despite the euphoria of results under Warbo, who used to work from 6am to 11pm at night, the financial madness of the company funding the football club remains as illogical as ever.
Last season it took a £3m share issue in September followed by a £5m loan from Sports Direct to keep the lights on before the Three Bears loaned £1.5m twice ahead of a similar loan from Dave King that saw the company through to season ticket renewal time.
With no fresh investment the company has only got ticket money to meet the overheads which have topped £30m a year since Charles Green set up the club in 2012.
When the season ticket money runs out is the current guessing game with the recent court action against Mr Green plus Paul Clark and Dave Whitehouse closing more doors for potential investors.
With Mr King, who was described as a glib and shameless liar by a South African judge, as chairman the chances of getting the green light for a further share issue are remote but despite that Mr Warburton has started to speculate about his budge for the January transfer window.
“I wasn’t tempted to spend at all on Tuesday,” the former Brentford boss claimed. “We’re pleased with our early permanent signings. The plan was always to get them in before going to the loan market. Thankfully that’s worked out really well.
“Our focus is now on January and we’ll look at how the squad shapes up over the next few months. We’ll have players lined up as and when we need them.
“Any manager has to have the trust of the board. So why spend money when you don’t need it? The unity is good and one bad apple can upset that.
“You have a better chance as a coach now if you show prudence and seek value. If you’re wasteful with the money it will come back to haunt you.
“If we thought there was a seven-figure player who was available, and who would add value to us on and off the pitch, we’d go and ask the board.”
Paying the bills and wages in January is likely to be quite a challenge for the Ibrox board with Paul Murray running the show on a daily basis- finding one million pounds to pay for a player in January will require much more than a magic hat.
Warbo is still hopeful of funding a deal to bring John Eustace to Ibrox.