Steven Whittaker: Rangers troubles have brought players closer together

[ian1964 10,874]

STEVEN WHITTAKER doesnâ??t have mere team-mates at Rangers.

 

They are more like friends. Family even.

 

And that is why he is praying Duff and Phelps can find a buyer for Rangers to prevent this batch of Ibrox brothers having to suffer a harrowing summer separation.

 

The Scotland star has been through the mill with this current group and collected three successive championship medals during his time in the trenches with his troops.

 

But with the club in administration and liquidation a genuine concern, Whittaker knows there is a serious threat of the Light Blue bunch being ripped apart by hungry English vultures.

 

Agreements are in place for Ibrox stars to be offloaded at cut-price fees in the summer if a new owner is not found for the club soon.

 

West Brom have been first on the scene to sniff around the prospect of snapping up international pair Allan McGregor and Steven Naismith for a bargain-basement double deal of £3.5million.

 

Others will also go and Whittaker canâ??t bear the thought of a clearout.

 

Having suffered through this recent awful period, the utility man insists their bond has never been stronger and Whittaker wants the group to be given the chance in 2012-13 to win back the title they are going to lose to Celtic this month.

 

The player, who scored a screamer of a goal in Saturdayâ??s 2-1 win at Motherwell, said: â??The commitment from the players has always been there.

 

â??A few of us signed longer contracts last year and that shows our commitment to the club.

 

â??We are all in this together and, hopefully, we can be next season, too. The squad has bonded tighter than ever recently.

 

â??We have always been a close-knit group and that has shown over the past seasons. Weâ??ll continue to be like that.

 

â??We donâ??t know what could have happened this season or what could have been but we can only play in the circumstances weâ??re in.

 

â??They havenâ??t been great but we hope we can look forward to next season, that something can be sorted and the club can go forward.

 

â??As players, we just want to concentrate on football and hope the rest can sort itself out.

 

â??You are made aware of what is going on but we donâ??t know the ins-and-outs of it.

 

â??Itâ??s up to us to keep up performances and as a team and a squad over the past few years we have been successful.

 

â??This year is the first in four that we are not going to win anything and we are determined to put that right next season.

 

â??Hopefully we can go forward as a club.â?

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2012/04/02/steven-whittaker-rangers-troubles-have-brought-players-closer-together-i-just-hope-we-re-still-here-next-season-86908-23810321/