Newcastle prepare �£4.5m offer for Rangers defender Bougherra

[johnnyk 158]

Newcastle United are poised to test Rangers' resolve by making a �£4.5m bid for Madjid Bougherra. Sources in England claim that Joe Kinnear, the Newcastle manager, is considering an additional move to take Barry Ferguson too, but any attempt to sign their captain will be rejected by Rangers.

 

Rangers are resigned to losing Bougherra but, while Ferguson has only 18 months left on his contract, Ibrox officials they will not countenance the sale of the 30-year-old midfielder, especially after the 1-0 Old Firm derby defeat at Ibrox which has left Walter Smith's side seven points adrift of Celtic in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

 

The Herald understands that Martin Bain, the chief executive, was informed yesterday afternoon of Newcastle's intentions by Bougherra's agent, Charles Collymore. It is also believed that Marseille will follow up their initial enquiry and may be the more appealing option, despite Bougherra's reiteration only last week that he had no intention of playing in Ligue 1.

 

Sir David Murray, the Rangers chairman, is aware of the potential backlash if Bougherra leaves six months after his �£2.5m transfer from Charlton Athletic. Sanctioning the sale, even if Rangers double their investment, will be regarded by the beleaguered support as surrendering the championship. It is believed, though, that Rangers have already earmarked Christophe Berra, the Hearts captain, as a prompt replacement if Newcastle or Marseille make an irresistible offer.

 

Rangers are preparing themselves for official contact and the inevitability of another deeply unpopular exit at the worst possible time. The club were heavily criticised for encouraging the �£9m transfer of Alan Hutton to Tottenham Hotspur last January, a move some supporters believe cost them the league. Bougherra was originally signed to partner Carlos Cuellar and facilitate the gradual phasing out of the 38-year-old David Weir but instead the 25-year-old replaced Cuellar, who joined Aston Villa in a �£7.8m transfer. The similarities with Cuellar's departure are now compelling. The Spaniard injured a calf muscle in pre-season and only returned to full fitness after completing his move to Villa Park.

 

Bougherra has missed Rangers' last four games with a thigh strain. He is expected to make an overdue comeback against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Sunday but, with a move beckoning, his chances of reappearing have diminished.

 

Kinnear is determined to plug a leaky defence and has been promised financial support by Mike Ashley, the chairman who has renewed his commitment at St James' Park after an unsuccessful attempt to sell the club. Newcastle's supporters will be wary of another central defender arriving from Scotland. Graeme Souness signed Jean-Alain Boumsong for �£8m in January 2005 but the Frenchman endured a disastrous stay in England before joining Juventus on loan. Bougherra has at least sampled the rigours of the Coca-Cola Championship.

 

Pedro Mendes has also been linked with a reunion with Harry Redknapp at Tottenham Hotspur but selling another first-team asset would cause mutiny among the supporters.

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers were on the verge of completing a �£250,000 transfer of Alan Gow. The striker was scheduled to return to Ibrox yesterday when his six-month loan deal with Blackpool ended but Mick McCarthy moved quickly to strengthen the Championship leaders' promotion push.

 

Gow has been told he has no future at Rangers after only two first-team appearances and, despite his desire for a reprieve, he is now expected to join forces with the Scotland internationalist, Chris Iwelumo, at Molineux.

 

Rangers have declined the chance to sign Hermann Hreidarsson. The 34-year-old Portsmouth defender is available for a nominal fee but, while Smith is an admirer of the player, he is in the market for a younger defender.

 

Bain is also under pressure to move on the squad surplus that is draining around �£80,000 per week from the club. Jean-Claude Darcheville's move to Valenciennes has freed-up �£20,000 per week while Hearts are expected to re-sign striker Andrius Velicka.

 

Rangers are keen to offload Brahim Hemdani, one of the club's highest earners, and will also listen to offers for Graeme Smith, Chris Burke, Charlie Adam and DaMarcus Beasley.

 

 

http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2478755.0.Newcastle_prepare_4_5m_offer_for_Rangers_defender_Bougherra.php

[Gribz 743]

So many first teams being linked away.

 

Personally if Newcastle came in for Ferguson I hope we take the offer. I can see Davis and Mendes being a much better partnership until Thomson returns.

 

Its not looking good with Bougherra though. Once again we buy a player, make him into something then sell him on to balance the books. Id take Berra but hope Bougherra stays.

[steve 0]

Sell Ferguson as his best days are behind him.Looks like another joke if we let Bougherra go six months after signing him!!

[Gazza_8 233]

I'd love it if we got rid of that bawheed Ferguson.

 

As for Bougherra, it's anyones guess what'll happen with him during January. I heard a rumour that he's not injured, he's just not wanting to play for us anymore.

[johnnyk 158]

I'd love it if we got rid of that bawheed Ferguson.

 

As for Bougherra, it's anyones guess what'll happen with him during January.I heard a rumour that he's not injured, he's just not wanting to play for us anymore.

 

must be worst 'rumour' i've heard so far!!

[alexscottislegend 2,090]

I'd love it if we got rid of that bawheed Ferguson.

 

As for Bougherra, it's anyones guess what'll happen with him during January. I heard a rumour that he's not injured, he's just not wanting to play for us anymore.

If that rumour's true, I'm fuming. I'm sick to death of players saying how it's a privilege to play for us, blah, blah, blah..then move to the Premiership.

 

If clubs like Newcastle wanted them why didn't they sign them from Charlton or whoever?

And no it's no consolation to get Berra; we still need a replacement for Weir. If this goes ahead, let there be NO more buying of players from England who we then sell on; you'd think we'd learnt our lesson from the Cuellar sale.

[craig 5,199]

Of the two I would rather we sold Barry. I think BF is an excellent player but at times he holds the team's performance back. I don't doubt he and Mendes can play together but they are too similar for me. I think that Thomson and Mendes was a more productive partnership.

 

I would give Davis and Mendes a shot too until Thomson is fit again.

 

I really do wonder what happened with Gow - here we are being touted for Dean Shiels yet we have Gow on the books who, the season before he joined us, had the most assists in the SPL. I would rather have Gow than Shiels, and I bet their wages wouldnt be too far off parity.

 

As for Bougherra, if he doesn't want to play for us then get shot. That said, it would be interesting to know WHY he doesn't want to play for us.

 

I know what you are saying Alex about Newcastle et al and why not sign them from Charlton - but at the same time we managed to get him here for just a couple of months and still turn a 100% profit. I would rather we did that than not - financially good but also, sadly, shows the type of club we have become - a selling one. The major downfall is that we no longer have stability and worse for us is that it has recently been all the CB's we uncover that we are losing, leaving us having to rely on Davie Weir.

[Gribz 743]

Ferguson has been holding us up for years.

 

Under 3 managers when he has been out the team we have played well until he returns.

Under Eck we played well in a few good games until ha came back then under PLG we all know what happened there.

IIRC we were top of the league this season until he returned then Mendes went off the boil aswell when BF came in the team aftr striking up a partnership with Thomson.

 

And all this to give us 1 good performance in every 8 games. Bye bye BF for me!!

[calscot 0]

The reality of being a selling club comes from the financial situation. Clubs will always sell their best players when a club with more money puts in a big enough offer. No club is immune to this but the richer you are, the higher up the food chain you will be.

 

We've gone from being one of the richest clubs in the UK to outside the top 10, possibly 20 and so we're ripe for big offers of over 10% of our turnover. Not many clubs can turn that kind of money down and you'd easily see Man U being a selling club if they were getting �£100M offers for players - especially if they'd gone out of Europe early and their debt was increasing.

 

I suppose the trick is to sell players and then use the money to make your team more successful or just as successful while paying off some debt or investing in other assets.

 

The danger is if you sell and don't replace the players with a high enough quality, you could lose more money in your normal operations than the profit you make on the players.

 

That possibly happened to us this year.

Edited January 2, 2009 by calscot

[Guest Jum Spence]

Rangers veteran David Weir says his defence partner Majdid Bougherra should remain at Ibrox.

 

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