Craig Whyte comes out fighting to defend his transfer deals

[ian1964 10,413]

RANGERS chairman Craig Whyte has defended his transfer market dealings since taking charge of the club, insisting the criticism levelled at him in the wake of their Champions League elimination is "completely unjustified".

Whyte has come under fire for the failure to sign more players ahead of the third qualifying round tie against unseeded Swedish side Malmo which Rangers lost 2-1 on aggregate to drop into the Europa League play-offs.

 

Since buying Rangers three months ago, Whyte has overseen the recruitment of just three new players with Juan Manuel Ortiz, Lee Wallace and Dorin Goian arriving at Ibrox for a combined outlay of around �£2.5 million. With Madjid Bougherra poised to make a �£1.7 million move to Qatari champions Lekhiwaya and Rangers in line to receive an �£850,000 sell-on windfall from Charlie Adam's �£8.5 million move from Blackpool to Liverpool, Rangers will effectively recoup what they have spent on transfers so far.

 

Rangers have failed with bids for a series of other players, most notably David Goodwillie who completed his �£2.8 million move from Dundee United to Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday. Whyte says Rangers offered more up front for the Scotland striker but claims United simply did not want to sell him to another Scottish club.

 

The Rangers owner has promised to add more players to manager Ally McCoist's squad before the transfer window closes on 31 August and believes his dealings compare favourably with those at the club during the same period last year.

 

"Look, we are speaking here on 4 August," said Whyte. "What had Rangers signed this time last season? Nothing. They signed James Beattie on something like 13 August and they signed Nikica Jelavic on around 20 August. We've had an earlier start to the season this year, but Rangers have done much, much more this time than in any season before. So I think the criticism is completely unjustified.

 

"We are all working really hard to make this work. That is the bottom line.

 

"We've got offers in for players. Sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't. With David Goodwillie, for example, we offered more than Blackburn offered, but Dundee United didn't want to sell to us. That is their prerogative.

 

"I think the Dundee United people will tell you the same thing, that we offered more up front money than Blackburn. They said they might get more in extras from Blackburn, but basically, Dundee United didn't want to sell to another Scottish club. That is the bottom line. There is nothing sinister in it. I don't know why people make a thing out of it. There is nothing sinister in it at all.

 

"We've got offers in for quite a few players at the moment. We have also still got the spine of the side that won the championship last season. I've done what I said I would do. I've extended players' contracts. We have so far signed three new players.

 

We have got five or six other players who we have re-signed, which is just as important. I've delivered everything that I said I would deliver. That is the message I want to get across, and I will continue to do that. We will absolutely have a strong squad in place by the end of August, of course we will.

 

"Ally and I sat together on the plane home and had a positive discussion about our signing plans. I fully understand the fans' frustration at the transfer speculation we have seen in recent weeks but the reason we lost in the Champions League is not due to a lack of signings. Ally himself has said publicly that we are a good side that only recently won the league championship."

 

Rangers now miss out on income of around �£15 million which participation in the group stage of the Champions League would have delivered. Whyte, speaking on the team's return from Malmo where they finished with nine men on the pitch following the dismissals of Steven Whittaker and Bougherra in the 1-1 second leg draw, appeared determined to remain upbeat. "It was unfortunate but we are looking forward," he added.

 

"Of course it is frustrating to go out of the Champions League. It's frustrating for all Rangers fans. I'm a Rangers fan myself and I know how it feels.

 

"I thought the team played well in Malmo, I thought they played their guts out. There were a couple of unfortunate decisions, and it was unfortunate that we got a couple of players sent off, but we played well.

 

"I think Rangers were the better team, I think everyone saw that."

 

http://sport.scotsman.com/football/Craig-Whyte-comes-out-fighting.6813237.jp?articlepage=1

[GovanAllan 0]

Isn't it funny who the amount of money you get from the CL always starts going up in the papers when you get dumped out.

[der Berliner 3,246]

When Timothy dropped out of the CL qualifiers, we were said to receive their pot as well, getting our income from CL money up to 16m. Unless I am mistaken, you get some 12m for reaching the competition, plus bonuses from points gained and gate receipts. I was also under the impression that the money for participation in the EL has increased to, but there are three Scottish teams competing there and that pot might be split.

 

You would hope that neither of our businessmen were unsensitive enough to budget the CL money in for next season. This is always a va banque thing and a few years back (when we were not that deep in the clutches of Lloyds et al, Bain stated that they never took CL money for granted when doing the budgeting for the upcoming season.

[calscot 0]

These days, there is usually scenario planning and contingencies for each one. There should be worst case scenario plans for getting dumped out of Europe and the cups at the earliest opportunity and optimistic plans where we qualify for the CL and have a good run. Plus a few in between.

[Guest Dutchy]

I'm not blaming Craig Whyte, but it does seem wrong to claim that it is a completely unjustified accusation.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't at least 2 of our targets just sign for someone else? I don't count the Goodwillie bid along with this as that had more to do with the simmering antagonism between the 2 clubs and once I heard the not good enough cries from DU, I half knew we were nver going to get him.

[ian1964 10,413]

I'll put my head on the block here,I'm actualy quite satisfied with what CW has done so far.. If you take into consideration what we were like last season,and before,this guy has came in and bought the club,who else would have?. He is a Rangers man,SDM wasn't/i'snt,so all we can do is wait and see.I've no reason to think he will not do a good job for Rangers,he is a Rangers fan. But he is new to this,which he has already admitted to,but at least he is a fan and for that reason I will give him time to learn his job and I'm convincedbhe will take us in the right direction.

[Guest Dutchy]

I'm all for Whyte as well, especially the way he doesn't let the media get away with peddling myths against Rangers. I also understand he's new to this business, but I expect him to improve with time.

 

If anything, I do think some of our bids have been on the low side, but even there he's looking out for Rangers. I suspect he's also got the tax thing on his mind, just a wee bit.

[laudrup11 0]

Also worth mentioning that he is completely new to negotiating for players and hopefully he will learn quickly from his failed dealings and get a few more faces in before close of window.

 

overall I am happy with his contribution so far signing McGregor and Davis to long term deals is something we wouldn't have seen happen without his takeover.