Craig: I am not Scrooge

[ian1964 10,416]

CRAIG WHYTE insists he HAS spent big this summer � despite NO box office arrivals.

 

The Rangers owner was last night forced to defend his signing policy in the face of mounting criticism from supporters.

 

Whyte pledged to spend �£25million on new players over the next five years.

 

He later upped that and claimed �£15m would be ploughed in this summer.

 

But SunSport's damning figures show Gers' net spend at the close of the August transfer window was just �£500,000.

 

But Whyte said: "Ally's signed seven new players and re-signed seven more this summer, which has been a significant investment in the squad.

 

"While all Rangers fans want to see as many star signings as possible there has to be realism as well.

 

"Unfortunately. we've not qualified for the Champions League or Europa League group stages and the club has to be run in the correct manner.

 

"Ally and I discuss these matters constantly and he has told me he is happy with the squad he has at his disposal.

 

"We look forward to the rest of the campaign and doing all we can to continue our success."

 

Rangers rejected a �£6.5m bid from Leicester City for striker Nikica Jelavic on Tuesday.

 

Aston Villa also enquired about Steven Davis with Whyte delighted both players are still at Ibrox.

 

He revealed: "We had a serious offer for Nikica, but it fell well short of the player's true valuation.

 

"Ally McCoist is building a good squad capable of competing for the domestic treble and Jelavic and Davis are key players."

 

Meanwhile, McCoist insists Gers' decision to spurn interest in Jelavic and Davis is a big signal.

 

The Gers gaffer said: "I am delighted Nikica and Steven are staying.

 

"There was no pressure to sell either, but the club received a serious offer for Nikica from Leicester.

 

"I have no doubt the players we have here are more than capable of defending the title."

 

Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/3789942/Craig-I-am-not-Scrooge.html#ixzz1WkMXOHHX

[Guest Dutchy]

I agree he's brought in players and I agree we're not too bad off, but it's incorrect to claim he's sent BIG money.

[craig 5,199]

Maybe my expectations have been watered down over the last few years - but I never expected "box office signings".

 

The only way box office signings are coming to Scotland these days is if they are getting astronomical money (ala Keane & Bellamy - and look how they turned out....) and we are not in a financial position to be paying 60 or 70k a week. I would even argue that Jelavic wasnt a box office signing. At 4 million he was seen as being a "big money signing" but I dont think he was box office, at the time.

 

If we were in the position of having the money to spend then sure why not. However we dont.

 

Also, if we had a reasonably strong, healthy squad then bringing in expensive players - again, sure why not. But our squad was at the bare minimum so we needed to spend the money wisely. Sure, some would be disappointed that we didnt splurge more but we still need to be prudent, even with a new owner.

 

What I would like to see is that we get a squad of perhaps 24 (which can include some of the youngsters too and, in fact, SHOULD include some youngsters) and then each season see us bring in a better quality of player in perhaps 1 or 2 positions at, say, 3 million quid each.

 

An example would be to look at who we have currently and find those who are must starts, squad players and dead wood.

 

Looking through our squad (not definitively, but you will get the gist :

 

McGregor - must start so no need to find a keeper

 

Whittaker - squad player, could get someone better but not vital

Goian - too early to tell but looks like a must start

Bocanegra - squad player, could get someone better, may not be needed with Perry there

Wallace - too early to tell but looks like a must start

 

Naismith - must start, no need to replace

Davis - must start, no need to replace

Ness - potential to be a must start

Wylde - potential to be a must start

 

Jelavic - must start, no need to replace

Lafferty - getting closer to a must start

 

If you consider the above our starting XI (not everyone would agree, but for the purposes of this no need to debate starters) then look at the squad players :

 

GK - Alexander - sorted at GK - no replacements necessary

 

DEF - Broadfoot, Weir, Bartley, Papac - all can do a job but Bartley is on loan, Weir will likely retire, Papac is only on a 1 yr deal and Broadfoot can play anywhere across the back line so a decent squad player. Our 1st choice defenders look decent but after this season we have little depth. Still, as it stands, we dont need to replace

 

MID - Edu, McCulloch, McKay, Hutton, Fleck, Bedoya - the former two are no longer good enough. Harsh on McCulloch but he simply is too slow now. McKay & Bedoya unknown, Hutton & Fleck decent squad players

 

STR - Healy, Hemmings - definitely lacking up front.

 

I am sure I have missed some but you get the gist.

 

What McCoist, Whyte, Smith & Russell should be doing is looking at the starting XI and determining the weakest position, then going out and getting someone that could fill it. The amount you spend should depend on the position - a creative midfielder or prolific striker should cost you more than a decent RB...

 

I would argue that we need to get another CB, an RB (which is sad because of Whittaker's incredible loss of form), a creative mid (or a right mid allowing Naismith to play the creative role - which I think he can, as he showed against Motherwell), and a striker.

 

If you could fill 2 of those positions per season with 6 million quid, whilst retaining the players currently there, then you would, within a couple of years, have a squad of appropriate size and one which has seen the 1st team improved as well.

 

That is obviously an ideal world.

 

I dont disagree with the policy we had this summer though, I think we needed to get bodies in. McCoist will have ideas on how he wants to play and if they are different from WS then he needs different types of players. I dont think we had the money to go out and buy these box office signings but, if managed correctly, we could be buying a couple of players at 2-3 million each season.

[Guest Dutchy]

One playeer not included in your list of players is McKay. I'm looking forward to seeing him, but as none of us know how he'll do yet, that will be the main reason for excitement.

 

Personally, myself, I don't like all the money that's in football and I think there should be some governing body limitations placed on it all as it's obvious that all this cash is destrying the game in certain pockets. Usually the places next to the rich areas, like ourselves as neighbours to England.

 

My main displeasure may be more to do with my polotics, but some of it is based on the fact that some of these multi-milion pound stars are just not worth it, but we must obey the god of the market, apparently.

[Danny 0]

I'm completely dubious about Whyte.

 

Johnston warned us to be wary of him and his promises.

 

I am beginning to see what he meant. As painful as that is to say.

 

tbh we're no better off now than we were under SDM.

 

Or is that another of my 'gross generalisations'...

[Darthter 542]

I'm completely dubious about Whyte.

 

Johnston warned us to be wary of him and his promises.

 

I am beginning to see what he meant. As painful as that is to say.

 

tbh we're no better off now than we were under SDM.

 

Or is that another of my 'gross generalisations'...

 

coz, the previous lot were soooo much better???

 

Thanks to the previous lot, we're haggling over a �£2.8m HMRC bill that they "didn't know about", and also have a major tax case ahead of us. They ran down the playing squad, and failed to maintain the Stadium to a decent level. We were forced to sell out top goal scorer last season coz they couldn't put a suitable contract offer in front of him - then Whyte & co get criticized for not paying double what we sold him for to bring him back.

 

Don't forget Johnston's promise "I'll step down on May 16th".....

[Danny 0]

I am no fan of the previous regime either. In fact my post history will show how much I ended up hating the board.

 

I just don't see much evidence this new regime is doing a lot of good for Rangers.

[ian1964 10,416]

I am no fan of the previous regime either. In fact my post history will show how much I ended up hating the board.

I just don't see much evidence this new regime is doing a lot of good for Rangers.

 

I see the bank not running us,I see a bit of stability,and I see Rangers men running Rangers. Now whether they are successful or not I'm more at ease just now. You have to give the new regime a chance before you can judge,again time will tell.

[Bluedell 5,329]

coz, the previous lot were soooo much better???

 

Thanks to the previous lot, we're haggling over a �£2.8m HMRC bill that they "didn't know about", and also have a major tax case ahead of us. They ran down the playing squad, and failed to maintain the Stadium to a decent level. We were forced to sell out top goal scorer last season coz they couldn't put a suitable contract offer in front of him - then Whyte & co get criticized for not paying double what we sold him for to bring him back.

 

Don't forget Johnston's promise "I'll step down on May 16th".....

 

I fail to see the relevance of the performance of the previous regime when reviewing Whyte's performance.

 

The �£2.8m tax bill should not be an issue to Whyte as the puchase price of the club was reduced by �£5m or 6m to account for it.

 

As for Miller leaving, I doubt that the new regime would have been able to put tgether a contract to meet his Turkey wages either.

 

There does deserve to be a lot of criticism about the fact that Ally wanted a striker and they failed to deliver. Putting in an offer to Dundee Utd and then withdrawing it for a worse one is a dreadful way to do business.

 

I don't believe that whyte has delivered morally on what he promised in respect of transfer funds (despite what the small print says) and the commitment of �£5m was made before we won the league so he had no idea whether we had a chance to qualify for the CL or not so the fact that we didn't get to the group stages should not have any impact on the cash available to spend.

[Bluedell 5,329]

I am no fan of the previous regime either. In fact my post history will show how much I ended up hating the board.

 

I just don't see much evidence this new regime is doing a lot of good for Rangers.

 

They are doing better but it feels a bit like damning with faint praise at the moment.