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Manchester United are favourites to win the �£8million race for Blackpoolâ��s sought-after midfielder Charlie Adam, who plays for Scotland against Brazil at the Emirates on Sunday. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has bided his time for 25-year-old Adam, who was the subject of a bidding war between Tottenham and Liverpool in the last transfer window. But after discussions with Walter Smith - Adamâ��s former boss at Rangers - Ferguson will enter the race for the player as he seeks a long-term successor to Paul Scholes. Blackpool will not stand in his way of moving at the end of the season and Adam is believed to find the allure of Champions League football a huge incentive, even if he will not be guaranteed a regular starting place. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1370336/Manchester-United-set-make-8m-summer-Blackpool-star-Charlie-Adam.html#ixzz1Hngbs3mV

His departure to Boro was the beginning of the end of his career. He'll sink to the bowels of English football then eventually come back to some bottom rung SPL team. He was onto a damn good thing at Ibrox and his ego and greed got the better of him. Fool.

When we played them off the park at the piggery to clinch the league title. We were simply so much better than them that the result was inevitable. Everything seemed destined to go in our favour and nothing they tried could change the predictable outcome. We were strong and their every weakness was on show for all to see. Their discipline went out the window and their fans cried conspiracy. Last night looked like a similarly inevitable outcome. All our weaknesses went on show yet again, our management seemed incapable of doing anything but repeat past mistakes and, as we struggled, our discipline evaporated. More especially, they win every psychological confrontation and seem as strong as we are weak. They responded to that epic disaster by appointing Martin O'Neill and have spent heavily ever since to ensure it didn't happen again. Where is our response going to come from? Because, make no mistake about it, we are a distant second best to celtic right now and the gulf isn't closing without a radical change of direction.

And we think we have problems Aston Villa are looking to reduce their wage bill after revealing losses of �£37.6m for the year ending 31 May 2010. Wages at the club increased by �£9m to almost �£80m and now account for 88% of Villa's �£90m turnover, which actually increased last season by �£6m. This included �£52m from television revenue while matchday turnover was �£24m and commercial income �£14.4m. The rise in turnover lifted Villa into Europe's top 20 earning clubs for the first time. The loss last season was �£9m less than the previous campaign but owner Randy Lerner provided �£12.5m during the campaign from a new share issue and a further �£12.5m in loan notes. He also funded the �£23.5m purchase of Darren Bent during the January 2011 transfer window. The American has invested more than �£200m in equity and loan notes since taking charge at Villa Park in 2006 - and the club will need to reduce its reliance on Lerner if they are to comply with Uefa's financial fair play regulations. The rules, which come into force in 2012-2013, mean teams in European competitions must break even over a rolling three-year period. Those clubs will only be allowed to incur losses of around �£39m over any three-season period. The losses for last season came during Martin O'Neill's final campaign in charge at the club, with the Northern Irishman resigning as manager in August. His replacement Gerard Houllier is understood to have have prioritised cutting the size of the Villa squad without reducing its quality. Bent, Kyle Walker and Michael Bradley arrived in January, while high-profile quartet John Carew, Steve Sidwell, Stephen Ireland and Curtis Davies left the club the same month. Carew and Ireland made temporary moves to Stoke and Newcastle while Sidwell and Davies were sold to Fulham and Birmingham respectively.

Our current situation - It's time to face the inevitable then rebuild for the future. When you drill down to it, The Rangers support, to a man, has known at the back of its collective mind that the situation we are in is dire. Many of us will be in agreement that weââ?¬â?¢ve been urinating into the proverbial wind for 3 years yet miraculously, we have managed to avoid getting wet. Sooner or later, the stranglehold that being owned by Sir David Murray has placed us under was always going to come close to killing us. I say Sir David Murray rather than Lloyds bank specifically, as our current situation has been clouded by the usual sea of half-truths, speculation and contradictions that weââ?¬â?¢ve now come to expect from the Ayrshire millionaire. I wonââ?¬â?¢t sit here and try to claim the moral high-ground by claiming recent results against the filth havenââ?¬â?¢t had any impact on what Iââ?¬â?¢m about to write: They have, and Iââ?¬â?¢ll get to that later. However, let me start from the very beginning of this, probably the most sorry episode in the never-ending series that is ââ?¬Å?The David Murray Showââ?¬Â.. It all started in January 2009. Rampant speculation built up suggesting that our top goal scorer was subject to a bid from Alex McLeishââ?¬â?¢s Birmingham. The source was originally an article from The Scottish Sun that was brief and lacking in quotes ââ?¬â?? normally the tell-tale signs of a non-story. Unfortunately, it didnââ?¬â?¢t quite work out like that, the bid from Brum was legit ââ?¬â?? and the then-chairman was about to inform us of news that would utterly stun us. After coming off of our most commercially lucrative season ever...Iââ?¬â?¢ll write that again for extra emphasis ââ?¬â?? After coming off of our most commercially lucrative season EVER ââ?¬â?? The chairman was about to confirm that despite all of this, in no small part down to a historic European run the year before ââ?¬â?? our finances were once again down the toilet... Murray told the Guardian at the time... "If we did not take this action [selling Boyd], it could have been bad but there are far worse situations developing around us and I will not allow it to spiral again. Rangers have to be run on a sound fiscal basis." In typical Murray style, however, he was soon to contradict himself completely after the transfer window closed when he said.. "The Boyd situation is simple. We received an offer that we believed, collectively, Walter Smith, manager and Martin Bain, chief executive represented good business. "The player then went to Birmingham and refused terms. That is where it stands. But Rangers will go on whether the player goes or not. In that sense, it is immaterial whether he stays or goes." I donââ?¬â?¢t know about you, but I see two statements that glaringly contradict one another. That wasnââ?¬â?¢t the end of it, however, a leading football agent told national commercial radio station TalkSport the same month, that literally ââ?¬Ë?every Rangers player was for saleââ?¬â?¢, with the likely culprit Wullie McKay later declaring that Rangers CEO Martin Bain had instructed him to sell a raft of high earning first team stars, citing McKayââ?¬â?¢s ability to ââ?¬Å?get the job doneââ?¬Â as the reason behind him being allocated this particular mission. Murray issued a ââ?¬Ë?denialââ?¬â?¢ in The Sunday People soon after which actually confirmed McKayââ?¬â?¢s claim in a roundabout way. So we were back up the financial creek without a paddle. Despite a debt that was dwindling, a tremendous run to a European Final, solid season/match day ticket sales and several impressive fees recouped for players that we sold that culminated in what was officially the most commercially lucrative season in the history of Rangers Football Club ââ?¬â?? Our debt somehow increased and we needed to make drastic cuts It was truly one of the most shocking revelations in our recent history, and it left us wondering where our money was actually going. In the summer of the sale year, Rangers managed to cut the wage bill by well over Ã?£200,000 per week (Over Ã?£10m a year) by moving on a raft of first team squad members. To the credit of Walter Smith and the board, the club maintained most of our key players but we were left well-short of numbers in the squad, a huge potential problem that thankfully was not exploited by faltering then-Celtic manager Tony Mowbrayââ?¬â?¢s inability to field a team capable of challenging for the SPL title. To make matters worse ââ?¬â?? our solitary signing that season, Jerome Rothen, had his loan spell at the club cut-short after an ineffective first half to the season. Despite the support rationally assuming that we would be able to bring in a player or two using Rothenââ?¬â?¢s estimated Ã?£18,000 per week wage, an assumption further justified by the departure of another high-earner in Pedro Mendes to Sporting Lisbon, the Rangers support were again left scratching their heads as there were no incoming transfers to the Champions in the January window of the 2009/2010 SPL season. ââ?¬Å?Mystifiedââ?¬Â just didnââ?¬â?¢t do justice to the general feeling of the Rangers support then, or indeed now. After we won the SPL title for the second consecutive season in 2010, it appeared that following some pleading words from Walter Smith himself, those big bad bankers who had been subject to a tongue-lashing or six from him over the previous months decided to relent and kindly let Rangers buy players ââ?¬â?? with money raised from selling yet more players from our already thread-bare squad. We were all left pleased with the quality of players we brought in but once again, the number of players who moved on last summer was more than the number that came in, and with our continued reluctance to promote youth in decent numbers...or use youth in Cup competition domestically given our hectic schedule, we were again left to face a season at home and abroad with a woefully small squad. For just over two years, Rangers have been fire-fighting and, as I said above, urinating into the wind without getting wet. Nobody should be surprised that this is happening, it was only a matter of time. The reality is that on-field failure and the ââ?¬Ë?huge problemsââ?¬â?¢ I speak of are hopefully going to be the precursor to change at Ibrox. Walter Smith and Martin Bain have done an outstanding job of keeping the club together during these turbulent times ââ?¬â?? that should never be forgotten and both men, Walter in particular, should be commended for this. His contribution since coming has only furthered his status as a legend despite the split opinion of his on-field approach. Something from the previous two years that I sadly canââ?¬â?¢t spare the Rangers management team and board from, however, is the constant stream of contradictory information and statements that has come from them. One minute ââ?¬Å?everyone is for saleââ?¬Â, the next ââ?¬Å?we donââ?¬â?¢t have to sell anyoneââ?¬Â. On other occasions weââ?¬â?¢ve told the world ââ?¬Å?the bank runs the clubââ?¬Â only to play it down days later. Our current chairman, who appears to have vanished without a trace, has justified our constant flip-flopping on the issue by saying our relationship with Lloyds bank is ââ?¬Ë?a fluid situationââ?¬â?¢ i.e. our status with the bank changes all the time as per their business needs. Sadly, that statement has never quite cut it for me, and the only thing fluid about this whole thing is in the way weââ?¬â?¢ve had the piss taken out of us by those who run the club. Fiscally, theyââ?¬â?¢ve done a remarkable job with a fair-share of luck involved. Keeping Davis, Bougherra, McGregor and others when weââ?¬â?¢re so up against it financially is something to be proud of. I personally decided that Rangers would not get another penny from me after that cup game. I donââ?¬â?¢t need to state the obvious about the difficulties many of us have paying for tickets when we have families to keep in this climate, the teamââ?¬â?¢s approach in this one-off must win fixture, along with yesterday and the other league game in January really symbolised the problems we have. Our first team appear to be a spent force ââ?¬â?? lacking in interest and focus because they have zero competition for a first team place. Our manager, like him or not, just doesnââ?¬â?¢t do squad rotation or youth promotion unless his hand is forced. So we now face a situation where our first team at the moment isnââ?¬â?¢t good enough and we canââ?¬â?¢t and wonââ?¬â?¢t change it. But we still pay our money and I think despite the small decrease in numbers, the club have taken our blind loyalty a little too for granted by anyoneââ?¬â?¢s standards. Weââ?¬â?¢ve all wanted a change of approach, change of ethos and a complete shift from the short-term, ââ?¬Å?boom and bustââ?¬Â mentality that has saw us teetering on the financial brink twice in less than ten years. Sadly, due to the furthering financial problems in recent years we have regressed even from that. We do not have the talent on or off the pitch to run Rangers effectively anymore. As a support, we have been very kind to the board and management team ââ?¬â?? weââ?¬â?¢ve taken everything said to us at face value. But the time has come for proper communication with the man who truly holds all the cards, Sir David Murray. Questions about the ongoing HMRC tax investigation, links between Murrayââ?¬â?¢s companies and the aggressive attitude of Lloyds bank to Rangers over what is a perfectly manageable debt from a club who have implemented some shrewd fiscal measures in recent years have not been met with satisfactory answers. Rangers quite like it when we pay our money, sit down and shut up. We canââ?¬â?¢t do it anymore ââ?¬â?? we just canââ?¬â?¢t. Answers to many, many questions are required, and only the man who has disappeared into the night can answer them properly, he still holds all of the cards. One wonders if the warning that Sir David Murray claimed he was trying to send us by selling Boyd in January of 2009 is the real reason behind the financial handcuffs that have been placed on us, with anonymous, invisible bankers quite happy to take the blame and be the ââ?¬Ë?faceââ?¬â?¢ behind the cuts as it gives them just cause to get their money back quicker. There arenââ?¬â?¢t too many other arms of Murrayââ?¬â?¢s empire that can raise seven figure sums by selling off assets relatively quickly. Our club bemoan financial pressure from the bank on one hand yet announce excellent half-year profits on the other, they blame the bank for the restrictions yet charge us through the nose for games weââ?¬â?¢ve actively tried not to win, they demand we pay for our season ticket in advance over a short timescale at inflated prices while warning us that we canââ?¬â?¢t spend money and are open to offers for our star players despite the relative success weââ?¬â?¢ve had recently in maintaining them. On field failure is the excuse the money men need to make further cuts ââ?¬â?? and itââ?¬â?¢s the excuse many of our support will need to get off their backside and demand change at Ibrox ââ?¬â?? along with clarification on what our real problems are. Enough is enough, our expectations have been managed very well by the club ââ?¬â?? weââ?¬â?¢re quite tolerant of the hardships we face now...because weââ?¬â?¢ve so splintered and blindly loyal that we refuse to speak up en masse. So long as the season ticket cash keeps rolling in, change will be delayed that little bit longer. We need to stop propping up a system that is not sustainable in the medium to long term, a regime of noble-yet-helpless individuals fighting the tide of faceless penny-pinchers...who for all we know may include our current owner, and face being flattened by the big truck weââ?¬â?¢ve been waiting to knock us down for two years. As I have no doubt that with the unrest this could all cause, we will emerge from the wreckage a much stronger force, able to plan effectively for the future. This is and always has been about more than one title or season ââ?¬â?? itââ?¬â?¢s about getting our club back. Sorry if this is negative, but I donââ?¬â?¢t care how we get that ââ?¬â?? the sooner we face the inevitable, the better as far as Iââ?¬â?¢m concerned.

Rangers are reported to have rejected a bid for Madjid Bougherra from Terek Grozny. The ambitious Russian league club, managed by Dutch legend Rudd Gullit, revealed their interest in the Algerian defender ahead of last nightââ?¬â?¢s Sporting Lisbon game. Grozny, owned by Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, are said to have made an undisclosed offer for Bougherra. The Russian transfer window is still open which allows them to do business under Uefa regulations with clubs anywhere in the world. Speaking in his homeland, Terek vice-president Haidar Alkhanov admitted lodging an interest in the defender before going on to admit defeat in the pursuit. He said: ââ?¬Å?We have signed the Pole, Piotr Polczak from Cracovia. ââ?¬Å?As for another centre-half, Bougherra will not come. Rangers have refused to sell him to us.ââ?¬Â Grozny finished 12th in the Russian League last season and appointing Gullit last month has led to speculation linking them with a string of top players. Bougherra has consistently been linked with an exit as he heads towards the end of his third season in Glasgow. He will be asked to sign a new contract this summer with 12 months to go on his deal. However, if an agreement cannot be struck, then the man signed from Charlton for Ã?£2million will be sold on rather than let him run down his deal. PSV in driving seat after draw PSV Eindhoven have a good chance of facing Rangers or Sporting in the last 16 of the Europa League after a stunning fightback secured a 2-2 draw at Lille. Two last-gasp strikes from Wilfred Bouma and Swedish midfielder Toivonen stunned the French side who had been two up at the interval through Idrissa Gueye and Tunio de Melo. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/editor-s-picks/russian-bid-for-madjid-bougherra-is-kicked-out-1.1086044

It's been a couple of weeks now since the notorious Senegal forward joined Rangers on loan from Blackburn. Amidst a career of infamy - from spitting on mischief-making fans, to allegedly mocking injured players - it was no surprise to see the Scottish media jump on this transfer with unmitigated glee. A new villain of the piece was born and the usual hypocrites lined up to vent their spleen. To be fair, it wasn't only non-Rangers fans giving the lad stick. Many bears were also worried about the transfer - not just in terms of the negativity circus the lad attracted but also football wise. In his thirties now, Diouf was surely past his best and just another expensive 'big name' has-been after the Beattie mistake of August's window? Well, three games in and a slightly different picture has been painted from the one the detractors were so eager to depict. A tough d�©but against Hearts to start; an interesting main course versus Celtic to follow; finished off with a tasty Motherwell rout dessert; so far Diouf's influence has been a very positive one. In every game he's done very well; if still lacking in complete match fitness. Creative, hard-working and with a great touch, the lad is simply a first class football player. Whether it be just behind a central striker, running the wide channels or doing the dirty work in defensive midfield, so far he's shown an appetite for the game which is refreshing and well worthy of praise. Indeed, the biggest compliment I can give him at the moment is that he reminds me of Ronald de Boer in the way he finds space, dictates attacks and brings others into play. Add in a field of vision we don't often see in Scottish football, then Diouf is a fine addition to our squad. Nevertheless there has been an unsavoury aspect to his time in Scotland so far but ironically not from the man variously described as "a sewer rat", "a despicable human being" and "the most hated footballer in Britain". So far there have been a variety of outrageous tackles upon Diouf with hardly a whimper of contention from those who took umbrage at his signing. Add in the captain and manager of Celtic having their own less than dignified go at undermining Diouf's resolve; one wonders just how faulty some moral compasses are. I'm sure even a newcomer to Scottish football such as Diouf will be laughing at the double-standards of Scotland's self-righteous zealots. Of course, any praise of Diouf is somewhat premature. With four Old Firm games still to come this season, a SPL title to decide and a declining European reputation to reverse; this season is far from finished and Diouf's contribution is sure to attract more controversy at some point; his fault or not. Indeed, I don't doubt the worst is yet to come for Diouf given he's refused to buckle to the exaggerated attention placed on him so far. Let's hope he can maintain his composure ahead of even stiffer tests. If he can do the business in attack and ignore the school-yard cretins, I've also no doubt that we'll take great pleasure in continuing to call him an honourable (de) Boer in the summer!

RANGERSââ?¬â?¢ Europa League opponents Sporting Lisbon are embroiled in a messy civil war following the sacking of the clubââ?¬â?¢s director of football, Costinha. The former Portuguese internationalist was removed from his post after he broke ranks in a TV interview to accuse club directors of lying to supporters. Costinha openly questioned the clubââ?¬â?¢s ambition and claimed he and coach Paulo Sergio were not informed of plans to sell Liedson, the clubââ?¬â?¢s top scorer, to Brazilian side Corinthians on the last day of the January transfer window. He also criticised internal procedures and called for an ambitious regime to be installed at the upcoming presidential elections. ââ?¬Å?The Sporting fans are separated from the club because of the lies ââ?¬â?? things are always unexplained. Nobody has the courage to openly explain a number of situations,ââ?¬Â he said. ââ?¬Å?When that happens, fans tend to move away because you donââ?¬â?¢t know what is truth or lies. We are spending pennies compared to our rivals and it is not easy to manage this situation.ââ?¬Â Sporting travel to Glasgow next Thursday for the first leg of their last-32 meeting with Rangers. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/sporting-sack-costinha-ahead-of-rangers-tie-1.1084422

HE could have gone to Liverpool and he could have gone to Tottenham, but here he was in Renfrewshire. If either of those Barclays Premier League heavyweights had got their way last week Charlie Adam would currently be one of the most expensive players in Scottish football history, carrying a price tag of just under Ã?£7m. For the time being heââ?¬â?¢s still at struggling Blackpool and no-oneââ?¬â?¢s ever paid more than Ã?£500,000 for him, but yesterday Adam could walk the corridors of the Scotland squad hotel knowing that heââ?¬â?¢s been the talk of the steamie. Itââ?¬â?¢s only a week since Sky Sports News spent transfer deadline day hyperventilating over three main moves: Fernando Torres to Chelsea for Ã?£50m, Andy Carroll to Liverpool for Ã?£35m and Adam to Merseyside or London. Only one of those was not completed but it was still a January window which redrew Adamââ?¬â?¢s profile. For a day or two he was one of the most talked about footballers in Britain. Who would have thought it? There were times when Adam was cast out to Ross County and St Mirren on loan. Heââ?¬â?¢s been jeered and an easy target as a Rangers player and was allowed to leave for buttons. The reinvention from footballing ugly duckling to swan seems to have been made with no feathers ruffled. He was the same likeable, vaguely bashful individual yesterday that he has always been. ââ?¬Å?It is like any other window,ââ?¬Â he said. ââ?¬Å?Everybody goes mental; Sky Sports goes mental. But it is like any other day in a footballerââ?¬â?¢s life. There is always speculation. Thatââ?¬â?¢s what happens. It is crazy but it has gone. The speculation has not affected me. Iââ?¬â?¢ve just gotten on with it. Iââ?¬â?¢ve dealt with it.ââ?¬Â Adamââ?¬â?¢s remarkable improvement reached the point where Liverpool and Kenny Dalglish made two unsuccessful bids, the second worth Ã?£6.8m. Spurs claimed they made an 11th hour offer for the same sum which was accepted by Blackpool but the paperwork could not be signed off in time. In the middle of it all Adam himself made a transfer request, which was rejected. He was less than chuffed about being denied the chance to leave. It was a dizzying episode for the 25-year-old. Even if he hasnââ?¬â?¢t switched clubs he still has the baggage of being rated at a supposed Ã?£14m by Blackpool manager Ian Holloway. ââ?¬Å?How can you value someone nowadays? At the end of the day people will pay what they want to pay. It is important to me that I just keep doing what I can for Blackpool. You know that there is a lot of money in the Premier League and you cannot help what people want to pay. ââ?¬Å?Iââ?¬â?¢m fortunate, I played for one the Old Firm and I learned a lot of hard lessons there. I played a lot of big games and you have to be able to deal with it. So I think that stood me in good stead. Since leaving Rangers my career has just gone on leaps and bounds and that is what happens when you are playing regularly. Iââ?¬â?¢m getting enjoyment from playing in a good team, with good team-mates and a good manager. They should get the credit, too. If it wasnââ?¬â?¢t for them I wouldnââ?¬â?¢t be in the situation I am in. ââ?¬Å?You never know what will happen. Iââ?¬â?¢ll still have a year left on my contract when the summer comes and for me the focus is all on Blackpool. Iââ?¬â?¢m fortunate enough, I have played at Rangers, it is a massive club, and now I am playing in one of the best leagues in the world so how can I complain? It is nice to be complimented but you cannot be too excited or get ahead of yourself or it will be gone as quick as it has come.ââ?¬Â There must be embarrassment around Rangers about Adam. The club were shrewd enough to insert a sell-on clause which will give them 10% of any transfer fee above Ã?£500,000. Still, many will wonder why a player who was peripheral at Ibrox, and often a focal point for criticism from supporters, has blossomed so dramatically in a grander football environment. Did he feel he had proved people wrong since leaving Ibrox in 2009? ââ?¬Å?Yes, I do. There are certain people that I have proved wrong. I can have a smile on my face when I see certain people, knowing that inside they are hurting. You are always out to prove people wrong in this game. You canââ?¬â?¢t please everybody. When I step out on to the pitch Iââ?¬â?¢m there to prove and to show to people that I am good enough to play at this level.ââ?¬Â Like who? ââ?¬Å?I cannot name names, but there were people in football. You are always trying to prove people wrong.ââ?¬Â Did he mean the manager who sold him 18 months ago? ââ?¬Å?It is nothing to do with Walter Smith. I have got a lot of respect for Walter, for what he has achieved and for what he did for me. He gave me the opportunity to go to Blackpool and get regular football. I do not have any bad words to say about Walter. He is a terrific man and a great manager. ââ?¬Å?I never thought I was the whipping boy at Rangers. I got a bit of stick for my performances but you have to take it on the chin and get on with it. It was difficult but the most difficult thing for me was not playing. I would play one week and then not play for another four or five weeks. That was the hard thing. Fortunately now I am playing regularly in a top league and hopefully my performances have justified where I am. ââ?¬Å?I had periods of playing regularly under Paul Le Guen and Walter Smith but when you come through the ranks [at Rangers] it is more difficult to get in the side because the club spent money on players and the chairman wants to know why they are not in the team.ââ?¬Â He could afford to be diplomatic about his current club. His dad, also Charlie, probably revealed the familyââ?¬â?¢s feelings last week when he described Blackpool as ââ?¬Å?cheap-skatesââ?¬Â for wanting even more money for his boy. He claimed any transfer was blocked out of spite because Charlie recently took them to a tribunal over an unpaid bonus payment. No-one has enjoyed the flowering of Charlie Adam more than his father, who had reached a point where he found it too upsetting to come to Ibrox and witness his lad being jeered. ââ?¬Å?I have just bought a new house so he is down every week. He loves coming to watch and who wouldnââ?¬â?¢t when you are playing the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham? It was difficult for him to watch at Ibrox but that is the way it goes at the Old Firm. Someone has got to get the stick but I am enjoying the way I am playing and he is enjoying watching it.ââ?¬Â The same goes for non-relatives. The blossoming of Charlie Adam has been one of the most uplifting stories of the season. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/more-scottish-football/i-can-have-a-smile-on-my-face-when-i-see-certain-people-1.1083899

From the BBC. How the feck did he earn that tag?

I saw this on article on Yahoo but believe it was originally posted on Eurosport.com ...... not sure who penned it and won't claim there's much new but thought I'd share it anyway. Edit - seems it was written by one Desmond Kane (oh dear?) Rangers Pay the Price for Murray's Self-indulgence A fool and his money are soon parted. To leaders suffering from hubris, such a proverb can prove to be gruesomely true. As a spectacle, the game of football continues to contain an innate ability to reduce sober-suited, profitable businessmen to regretful rags. Sir Alan Sugar continues to be depicted as a wise old sage on television programmes such as The Apprentice, but the barrow boy from London's East End who discovered a a beach of gold after founding the Electronics firm Amstrad in the 1960s, never managed to use his gumption in avoiding the unique pitfalls of football. The world game remains a forum where can you can squander millions of your personal fortune for the love of one club, and continue to be booed by its supporters when you return. There have never been any laws of logic governing the fundamentals of football. Sugar conveyed the message that he viewed his period as the controller of Tottenham Hotspur in the 1990s as a waste of his time. "Football is about the only business in the world where it's embarrassing to make money," said Sugar. Football is not the only business in the world where it is embarrassing to lose your bread, but it can prove to be the most painful. The dearth of funds affecting Glasgow Rangers, champions of Scotland over the past two seasons, would be embarrassing if it was not so serious. As chairman of a club in the English Premier League, Sugar made money on his controlling interest in Spurs when he sold up a decade ago. He received Ã?£22 million for two thirds of a stake that he paid Ã?£8m for in 1991. Sir David Murray, the owner of Rangers in the Scottish Premier League, put up around Ã?£6m for the Glasgow club three years earlier, but looks likely to be left with nothing more than a series of gilded and galling memories when he finally departs a scene he has been trying to escape with some urgency for several years. He will be left bereft of vast financial rewards for investing his emotional capital in Rangers. In trying to apply the Midas touch to the game of football, Murray has been left badly scalded. There is a growing sense that the worst is yet to come for Rangers as the club is forced to face up to its fiscal responsibilities. Debt has gripped Rangers since the former Dutch coach, Dick Advocaat, was given carte blanche to blow over Ã?£80m on players over a decade ago in an attempt to furnish the Ibrox trophy room with the European Cup, a vision commensurate with such an extravagant commitment to excess. Pride comes before a fall. Common sense, if not finance, was in short supply when Rangers began spending money they evidently did not have. The Glasgow side are again jousting with their eternal foes Celtic as they pursue a third successive Scottish Premier League gong this season in a championship that has not been won been by another club side since Sir Alex Ferguson ran Aberdeen in 1984. They do so against severe financial hardship. Having failed to find a buyer for Rangers over the past few years, Murray has been conspicuous by his absence in failing to inform the fans of what is going on. These are the same diehards who lavished praise upon the proprietor for helping them match Celtic's record of nine successive domestic titles in 1997. It must be said, the supporters of Rangers deserve better than they are getting from a figure who once liked to project himself as a figure of dignity in a rabid Scottish football scene prone to moments of madness. Murray bought Rangers in 1988 before leading them to the fore of British, if not quite European football. To a neutral, Murray is a man to be admired, a brave figure who recovered from losing his legs in a horrific car crash in the 1970s. He is one of the country's leading businessmen, a so-called pillar of society and owner of one of the country's largest sporting institutions, but money never made a man. Before the advent of Sky Television and the English Premier League as we know it in 1992, Rangers were arguably the biggest and wealthiest football club in the United Kingdom. Funded by Murray, Rangers reversed the trend of talent departing Scotland for more lucrative shores. Mark Hateley, Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascoigne and Giovanni van Bronckhorst are a selection of the names to have washed up at Ibrox during Murray's stewardship, but all this has come at a price. It is a price they now seem unwilling, or unable, to pay. The owner's treatment of Rangers since around 1998 has proved classless bordering on reckless. The sums involved are truly astonishing, and not just in unloading Ã?£12m to purchase the much-maligned Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo from Chelsea a decade ago. Net debt at Rangers reached Ã?£82m in the early part of the previous decade, but they have not yet got their house in order. Murray remains owner in name only with the club's bankers Lloyds TSB taking an active interest since the recession bit deep into his company Murray International Holdings three years ago. To cut a longish story shorter, Rangers are inextricably linked to Murray's other assets. They have taken a hit, and Rangers have been dragged along for the ride. It is unclear where the final destination for the club will be in all of this. Run in the interests of Lloyds, who are attempting to claw back debts of Ã?£27m, it is interest on an unpaid tax bill that leaves Rangers sporting a jaundiced look. Prospective buyers Andrew Ellis and Craig Whyte have appeared to be Walter Mitty characters in failing to purchase the club, but it seems the figures do not add up for them. If they are toying with the idea on whether investing in football makes sense, they need only study the man they are buying the club off to understand the pitfalls of such a foolhardy venture. Money spent without care on Scottish football tends to be money lost. It must be assumed that the real reason why Rangers have not yet found a buyer to purchase the club is that no prospective owner wants to be left with an estimated tax bill of Ã?£24m and interest of Ã?£12m, a figure touted by several commentators on the subject, once a hearing into the case is played out in May. If you read some of the literature swirling around this mismanagement, added penalties for failure to pay tax to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over wages paid into offshore accounts to the club's employees in the past decade could apparently see the tax bill rise to over Ã?£50m by the end of next year. This is before the bank debt is totted up. There remains a possibility that Rangers could be forced into administration when this reaches a crescendo. Rangers look unsellable unless some rich Sheikh in the Middle East decides he suddenly has a penchant for golf or the Scottish Highlands. There has even been talk about Glasgow City council coming in to to take over the running of Ibrox Stadium and leasing it back to Rangers. It is little wonder that Lloyds Bank are refusing to release sizeable funds for new faces if the tax man is about to take back what is his. None of this is good news for the general health of Scottish football. Rangers opted to sell top goalscorer Kenny Miller, a man who had discovered 22 goals in the SPL this season, to Turkish champions Bursaspor for Ã?£400,000 at the outset of the January transfer window rather than watch him walk away for free during the summer months. This was a decision taken by the bank. If Rangers were in rude health, Miller would have signed a long-term contract last year. He walked away because the club is financially paralysed, unable to meet his demands. They were apparently outbid this week by Celtic for the attacking Derby midfielder Kris Commons, who was offered a modest Ã?£20,000 per week compared to the maximum of Ã?£15,000 Rangers could unearth. Who would have countenanced such a possibility when Murray vowed to put down a tenner for every fiver Celtic spent a few years ago? Rangers now toil to stick down a ha'penny without the permission of the bank. Of course, apart from the loss of face, these are trivial moments compared to the wider issues. It is ironic that for a club which wraps itself in the Union Jack and God Save the Queen, Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs could help Rangers plunge into a period of deeper despair. Murray must shoulder the blame. He used to court interest from a fawning Scottish press in the 1990s when money was no object. A few newspapers in the country were furnished with a bottle of Scotch from the Rangers owner back in the day, but he is nowhere to be seen when the going gets tough. The constantly impressive Walter Smith has helped Murray by luxuriating in trinkets since he returned to manage Rangers in 2007 a decade after he oversaw nine-in-a-row, winning with the spine of a team purchased three years ago. An appearance in a UEFA Cup final and two SPL titles in three seasons suggest Smith is more an alchemist than a football manager, but he has been left exhausted by his inability to strengthen his squad. It would not surprise this onlooker to see Smith manage in the English Premier League or Championship next season if he so wishes. At least Sir Alan Sugar got out of the cursed business with millions for his shares in an English Premier League concern. Not so Murray. His silence on the subject speaks volumes. "There is a massive moonbeam of success coming to us. We've got big plans," said Murray at the time he bestowed the job of manager upon Paul Le Guen in 2007. Such sentiments now sound like the utterances of a fantasist. Rather than Sugar, perhaps history will remember Murray as a man who was more similar to Leeds United under Peter Ridsdale, a custodian of a club who believed his own press, a figure who spent money without preparing for an economic downturn that was just around the corner. 
As has been said in other quarters, such treatment of a great club like Rangers amounts to a form of financial vandalism. The fans will thank Murray for fuelling their rise to nine-in-a-row, but they are also discovering that the road to ruin lies in living outwith your means. Time may yet be a great healer for Rangers, but in poring over the effect of the Murray years at Ibrox, it has also been a great revealer. His empire appears to have been built on shifting sands.

And now that the dust is slowly beginning to settle and everyone has had a chance to sit back and think about the players we've brought in and the players we've released, what's everyones thoughts on the matter?

Somewhere to stick the latest headlines for the latest installment of the silly season. I'll kick things off: Rangers line up Bosman for Killie Goalkeeper Cammy Bell http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/04/rangers-bosman-kilmarnock-cammy-bell

OK then gentlemen - the window has shut again for another season and we've managed to keep the bulk of our squad together for our SPL title challenge. To that end, what would now be your preferred first XI? Do we stick with the experience of Weir and McCulloch or do we sacrifice their influence for the freshness of youth? Post your preferred first XI now! :sw: :mb: :sp: :ehd: :sd: :me: :vw: :sn: :nj: Yummy!

Thought I would take the chance to have a quick over view of where we are and how we may move forward . Firstly what we know or believe we know . 1. We are in debt to the sum of approx �£25 million give or take , we have an agreement to reduce a term loan by �£1million per year and also it is muted reduce our need of an overdraft by a simillar amount depending on who you believe . 2. We have an ongoing issue with HMRC which has yet to even reach the stage of a first tier meeting and as yet no figure/amount has been demanded , in fact as we speak we still dont even know if we have any outstanding amounts to settle . 3.The squad , which was thread bare to start is 3 less than it was , though I would argue we are actually stronger than we were this time yeaterday . Miller will definetly be missed , Velicka nope , Webster nope .Beattie nope and Loy and MacMillan were only taking wages , now we have Healy , Diouf and Bartley , all may be onloan but all will be involved . 4. Taking away from the personalities and everything else , we are also up financially after this window , Healy took a cut in wages to play for us at �£4000 pw , Blackburn were offering to pay for Diouf to go (wages that is ) so I dont see him costing the earth , dont know about Bartley . So all in all we may be up as much as �£40,000 per week up on the deal plus Miller,s transfer fee and the small amount for Loy. 5. Does this actually do us any good in the long run , if we keep challenging , and as it stands ,if we win our games in hand we are top , why would Lloyds or Murray for that matter want to sell us , the debt is getting reduced , we are being successful and the asking price will not be changing , so Murray and Lloyds win we carry on in a groundhog day sort of way . 6. Our ambitions will never be met by the present board at Rangers , because they will never be allowed to spend the money we are bringing in , we are like George Orwell's 1984 , where we are forever fighting a war against unknown , unseen and never heard from enemies , whether it's Murray , Lloyd's or HMRC the battle is always there and our ambitions and hopes are always tempered . In a way its a bit like waking up every morning and being force fed a Valium . So what's the answer ,f**k knows but this is Rangers from 2001 .......every day is groundhog day and this bear is getting worn down by it all .

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/michael-grant-on-monday-1.1082711 The first suggestion was that Craig Whyte might be able to rush through a takeover and own Rangers in time for Christmas. Then he supposedly wanted to have the reins in time for the January transfer window so he could plough in some funds for signings and an enhanced contract offer to Kenny Miller. Christmas is over, Miller is away, the window closes at 11pm tonight, and still there is no Whyte. Not a peep has been heard and sources have said nothing is likely to change. It is now 74 days since the story broke that he wanted to buy the Ibrox club. It wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that the most pressing matter on Whyte’s mind now is how best to spin his retreat from the Ibrox doorstep. Not much is clear about Rangers’ ownership and information remains contradictory about whether or not the club will end up in Whyte’s hands, but there has been absolutely nothing in their January activity to suggest this is a club on the brink of new ownership. They submitted a bid for David Goodwillie which Dundee United rejected, and that was that. No increase, no bargaining, just a withdrawal from the table. They effectively agreed a fee with Derby County for Kris Commons only to realise they weren’t able to follow it through when he asked for Ã?£20,000-per-week. Whatever impact David Healy may go on to have for them, the fact remains that he wasn’t the first or even second forward on their wanted list. The Commons move said it all. The best Rangers could manage was several thousand pounds per week less than he was able to get from Celtic. If the most Rangers can offer now is about Ã?£14,000-per-week, they risk being outbid by their rivals for any player they might want in the foreseeable future. Agents routinely offer the same player to both clubs (same city, same league, same status of club) and their obligation to do the best they can for a client means they would naturally try to play one club off against the other if it might hike up the wages on offer. The Commons deal might not be the last time Rangers are gazzumped by Celtic. Rangers also risk not being able to keep hold of Madjid Bougherra, Steven Davis and Steven Whittaker, who are all out of contract at the end of next season. All three will believe they can get more money by leaving than re-signing. It’s easy to see all three of them going the way of Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller, departing for little or nothing. Lloyds Banking Group’s aggressive clawing back of the debts accumulated under Sir David Murray have been cold and clinical and still it goes on, relentlessly. Around Ã?£22m of the Ã?£27m debt is owed to Lloyds and they continue to be voracious in trying to get it back. “Whether we think it’s fair or not, it doesn’t really matter because we are not getting any kind of reaction any time we ask about it,” said Walter Smith recently. Lloyds don’t look at the football implications of anything. They aren’t interested in speculating to accumulate, which is why they were unmoved by the case for keeping top goalscorer Miller and increasing the likelihood of winning the league and reaching the Champions League. To Lloyds, Ã?£400,000 for Miller sounded a whole lot sweeter than nothing for him in the summer. They don’t give any ground, no matter how often or how passionately the case is made by Smith or chief executive Martin Bain. Those two must feel they are banging their heads against a brick wall. It isn’t going to change. Lloyds want another cut to the wage bill for next season, another Ã?£1m off the players’ salaries. They see themselves owed a big pile by a club facing reduced television income, the possibility of no Champions League money, and even some reduction in season-ticket sales. They see a possible Ã?£36m bill, plus penalties, from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs tax investigation which might hang over the club for another 18 months or so. They aren’t sitting back, waiting for Whyte or anyone else to pay back the money they’re owed. They’re working to get it back through a thousand cuts. Others won’t shed tears for Rangers. Even Ã?£14,000-per-week is way above what any Scottish club except Celtic can pay. Even after Miller’s departure they have four strikers on the books who cost Ã?£11m in transfer fees alone. They aren’t in this mess because of Lloyds, but because Murray allowed the debt to soar in the first place. It’s just their misfortune that Lloyds are being as brutal as a loan shark when it comes to claiming the money back. If it’s exasperating for Smith and Bain, then what must another central figure be making of it all? What kind of job is Ally McCoist going to inherit in four months’ time? Celtic appointed an inexperienced manager last summer, but crucially they backed him with the money to buy his way out of trouble. Rangers will not be able to do that. McCoist will swell with pride when he becomes manager, but there has never been a worse time to inherit the job he has always wanted.

Kilmarnock manager Mixu Paatelainen has revealed discussions have begun over a new deal for Cameron Bell. More...

Celtic defender Darren O'Dea is hoping to extend his loan spell at Ipswich Town beyond January. More...

Don't really know much about Suarez other than wathcing him at the WC2010. Could be a good bit of business for Liverpool though if they do sell Torres to Chelsea for anything between the �£40m and �£60m that's being reported. A nice tidy profit for Ajax too.

Hopefully this is Bullshit but it was said on here he would probably end up with them.

The following is from BBC Sport website .... looks to me like a clear pre-cursor to the deal falling through ..... but I suppose we continue to live in forlorn hope ..... By Alasdair Lamont Craig Whyte remains hopeful of concluding his proposed takeover of Rangers before the end of January. Whyte has been in negotiations with the current owner Sir David Murray since the middle of November. He had hoped to complete a �£33m deal before Christmas, but due diligence has taken longer than Whyte expected. Meanwhile, the Rangers Supporters' Trust chief has warned that fans could boycott Lloyds Bank if they continue to deny Rangers funds for squad building. Whyte considers the matter to be largely in Murray's hands at this stage, with Whyte's lawyers and accountants awaiting responses to a number of queries from the current owner. He expects that following a period of relative inactivity over the festive period, which he found frustrating, the pace of negotiations will now pick up. However, if Whyte can conclude a deal soon, he hopes to be able to help Rangers manager Walter Smith strengthen his squad. On Thursday, Smith bemoaned the current financial constraints at the club, stating that he would be unable to bring in new players unless he sold first. Stephen Smith, chairman of the Rangers Supporters' Trust, reiterated their stance regarding Lloyds Bank's involvement with the club. "The sooner Lloyds are disentangled from the running of Rangers Football Club the better," he told BBC Scotland. "I'm as worried now as I was last year when the manager felt strongly enough to publicly criticise the bank's role. "We've had a successful Champions League campaign, we're guaranteed at least two more European games, yet there has still been no change in attitude from Lloyds. "We're challenging for four competitions and that's why the size of the squad is a concern. "If the manager's saying we need help, why are Lloyds behaving in such a vindictive way towards Rangers? "If that begins to materially affect Rangers on the park, we will certainly look to take action to try to change that. "Getting the Rangers family involved in a boycott of Lloyds bank can't be ruled out." As of September 2010 Rangers' debt stood at �£27m. While Smith was allowed to conduct some transfer business in the summer - including the purchase of Nikica Jelavic for �£4m - his hands have been largely tied on that front for the past three seasons. The Scottish champions trail league leaders Celtic by four points, although they have two games in hand. However, as things stand, Smith will have to challenge in all domestic competitions, as well as in the Europa League, with the same small squad of players. Meanwhile, across Glasgow, rivals Celtic appear likely to bring in more players during the January transfer window. Champions League participation over the last two seasons has helped Rangers go some way to alleviating their financial problems. But failure to win the Scottish Premier League again this term, and thereby miss out on the lucrative Champions League, would reverse that trend and make things even more restrictive for whoever succeeds Smith as Rangers manager next season

Ally McCoist today refused to blame Kenny Miller for leaving Rangers mid-season for the lure of Bursasporââ?¬â?¢s millions. The striker has moved to Turkey in a deal that will net him Ã?£50,000 a week on a two-and-a-half year contract. Rangers will get just Ã?£400,000 ââ?¬â?? plus a further Ã?£100,000 should the Turks qualify for the Champions League next season ââ?¬â?? for their top scorer. The departure of the 31-year-old, who was out of contract at the end of the season, has left many Gers fans wondering if their hopes of three-in-a-row will go with him. But on the day Miller revealed the new contract offered to him by the Ibrox club would have meant accepting a ââ?¬Å?30 or 40% wage cutââ?¬Â, McCoist held no grudges. The Ibrox No.2 said: ââ?¬Å?Kenny has made a wonderful contribution for the period that he has been here. ââ?¬Å?It would be safe to say that Kenny has been great for the club and the club has been great for Kenny over the period. ââ?¬Å?It has certainly been a good partnership and he goes with our blessing and our thanks. But we will be disappointed to see him go obviously because he has been an integral part of the team over the past few seasons.ââ?¬Â Miller has been criticised for rejecting the opportunity to join Premiership side Birmingham in favour of Bursaspor, whom he came up against in the Champions League earlier this season. But he insisted today: ââ?¬Å?Listen, it doesnââ?¬â?¢t bother me what people think. People can have their opinions. Ultimately everyone should look at the facts of the situation. ââ?¬Å?I wasnââ?¬â?¢t offered a contract by Rangers which I felt was suitable for me. ââ?¬Å?Whether it was now or the summer, I was definitely leaving. I just donââ?¬â?¢t think itââ?¬â?¢s right for me to be labelled a money grabber just because I have been offered a better contract somewhere. ââ?¬Å?Should I just sign for Rangers again, even though the contract is worth 30 or 40% less than my current one? ââ?¬Å?Or should I think about my family and providing for them? Football is a short career, remember.ââ?¬Â Gers boss Walter Smith has launched a frantic bid to find striker back-up before the window closes on January 31, using the incoming fee and Millerââ?¬â?¢s wages between now and the end of the season, which would have amounted to around Ã?£350,000. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/editor-s-picks/ally-mccoist-we-don-t-blame-kenny-miller-1.1081175

From The Northern Echo. I think it's a real possibility he'll end up back here if Miller leaves in January however there's no quotes re Boyd in the article.

Cast your mind back to two years ago this January when Rangers accepted a multi-million pound bid for Kris Boyd from Birmingham City. Through all the run-up rumours and speculation I never once believed that Boyd would be leaving us and even had a bet on it with a fellow forum member. Even after the substantial bid had been accepted I still truly believed that Kris would be a Rangers player come the first game in February. While that belief turned out to be correct, it didn't mean much at the time other than my hunch/gut feeling being right for once and that I thought the whole Boyd soap opera that January was a bit suspicious. Now bring your mind back to the present day and this January our club accept a bid from Birmingham for our top goal scorer. This time it's Kenny Miller and yet again we have a rather prolonged saga that ends up with the player not moving to Birmingham after a bid has been accepted. Kenny supposedly couldn't agree personal terms... By now peoples' heads are starting to hurt while some of us are close to calling a Samaritans helpline. Serie A outfit Fiorentina were supposedly interested in Kenny, but mysteriously lost interest despite the player being available for a pint of lager and a packet of crisps? Incredible! If I didn't actually trust our club and our press I wouldn't believe it! In step our opponents from this season's Champions League - Bursaspor, who Miller scored against and in a very strange transaction for any football club, Kenny Miller is given permission to speak to Bursaspor and agree personal terms before an official bid has actually been made and accepted. Am I the only one who thinks this is extremely odd? Well, no matter how odd it might seem, Miller is in Turkey and trained with them yesterday, so given that he's supposedly agreed personal terms and we've supposedly accepted an offer 'in principal', it now looks like a done deal. If it were now to fall through at the last minute for some bizarre reason like all writing implements in Turkey and Glasgow spontaneously combusting before pen is put to paper I think some of us might be bordering on getting a little sceptical. Then again, we'd believe anything us fans, wouldn't we? So the Miller saga looks to have finally ended and here we are, two thirds of the way through the transfer window minus our top scorer. There's a definite split in the fans' opinion over the whole thing, with many saying 'good riddance' and equally as many, perhaps even more saying '�£400k?, what a joke!'. Looking at it from a slightly different perspective, we may well have just been literally robbed by the Bosman ruling because Kenny Miller was free to talk to any club he wanted to, but is the water a touch muddy regarding this? I was under the impression that players in Miller's situation were allowed to talk to clubs about a potential Bosman move and signing of a pre-contract, but not about personal terms relating to a direct transfer before an offer had been made for the player. Am I missing something here? Enough of the weirdness because we've got a potential problem: Minus Kenny Miller we don't have a proven goal scorer and we're midway through the season. We all hope that Jelavic, Naismith, Lafferty and others in our squad can step up and score the goals that help take us to our third SPL title in a row, but is hope enough or do we need to replace Miller with another striker? It's a very difficult question because when Walter Smith signed Miller nobody thought for a minute that he'd score as many goals as he has never mind become our top striker. What's to say that one of our other strikers can't step up and score a lot of goals? Well, none of us know and it's quite likely that Walter doesn't know either, so it comes down to a gamble. Ideally, Walter would have some cash to buy a player and would spend some time in the next week with his management team and our scouts (yes, scouts) deciding on some potential Miller-replacing targets, but is our manager actually going to be able to trade that pint of lager and packet of crisps which we got for Miller? If Walter is allowed to look for a replacement what should he be looking for? A cheap buy or a loan signing? Most of us would like to think that David Goodwillie is now out of the picture in the wake of his pending court case and Dundee United's general greed, so are there other cheap, but attractive options in Scotland? The only one I can think of is Leigh Griffiths who's apparently on his way from Dundee to Wolves for �£150k. Griffiths has a great scoring record in the 1st Division, but he's unproven at SPL level so could he be a cheap option and would it be a worthwhile purchase? Personally, I'd be pleased with a young striker like Griffiths joining Rangers, but even happier if our management pulled a rabbit out of the hat and signed a cracking striker on loan for six months to help us win another league title. The problem is that loan signings can be hit or miss just like footballers in general, but if there's one thing that's for sure, it's that we don't need another thirty-something slouch who's only interested in collecting a pay-cheque. It's over to you Walter - Do nothing, sign a bargain with potential or find the loan Ranger! . .

It's now a full 6 days since we heard officially from the club that a bid for Kenny Miller from Birmingham City had been accepted and yet apparently nobody knows what is happening and whether we're going to lose Miller in this transfer window or not. Our manager doesn't know what's going on and neither does our manager-in-waiting Ally McCoist. All they're letting on is that they know the same as we do: That a bid has been accepted and that Kenny Miller has spoken to Birmingham and has appaently also spoken to Italian Serie A side Fiorentina regarding a possible move to Italy. I can understand that this is a tough decision for our top scorer since despite his excellent scoring form for us this season, he's no spring chicken. He needs to decide where he wants to play his football based on the fact that this might be his last lucrative contract as a professional footballer. The biggest danger for our club is that Miller refuses to accept the offer on the table from Birmingham in favour of a Bosman deal and potentially more lucrative move for himself personally. If he chooses that path it puts our manager in an awkward situation team selection wise for the rest of the season and Walter has expressed his concerns about that. Given that Miller has been scoring so many goals this season the ideal situation would have been for us to secure him on a new contract and potentially sell him for a good fee in the summer, but unfortunately that seems certain not to happen now with the player refusing to sign the contract on offer from our club. As the clock ticks and the days go by, the manager, other people at the club and most Rangers fans will no doubt be feeling like myself and want Kenny to make his mind up as soon as possible because as this continues to drag out it becomes more and more disrespectful. Walter Smith gave Kenny Miller a fantastic opportunity when giving him the chance to return to Rangers and it's been an opportunity which has rejuvinated the striker's career. He's been well treated, well paid and has had the chance in a couple of years to win more silverware than many footballers win in their whole career. The club and our manager need to know what's happening Kenny, so it's time to make your mind up!