THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW
Hibs must decide what road they’re going to go down with star player
RANGERS manager Mark Warburton expects to see Scott Allan lining up in a Hibernian shirt against his side this lunchtime. He might well be the only one.
Footballers asked to play against potential future employers have an uncanny habit of succumbing to niggling injuries. Or declaring themselves mentally unfit to perform.
If Allan was missing from the Hibs starting line-up today, it would hardly be a surprise.
For the player — if not his club — the situation is laced with danger. Injuring a prospective future teammate would be bad for business. Injuring himself even more so.
For Alan Stubbs, there is a decision to be made as to whether Allan’s inclusion might send a defiant message of business as usual. Or represent an unstable, unsettling presence in the Hibs midfield.
Asked if he expects Allan to play today, Warburton played with a straight bat.
‘Absolutely — he’s a Hibs player,’ said the Rangers manager. ‘Unless he’s injured and we don’t know about it, we’ll presume he’ll play.’
Figures close to Allan are less certain. The midfielder wants to join Rangers, his boyhood club. Hibernian don’t want him to go and the reasons f or that are simple.
He is their best player. The man who can pick a pass and do the things other players can’t.
In a phone call earlier this week, Warburton promised Stubbs — an old acquaintance — he would do nothing to upset the player further ahead of an unexpectedly edgy opening game between the two clubs.
‘Scott is a very talented player,’ added the former Brentford boss. ‘There’s no doubt about that. He is a big influence for them, whether he plays wide on the left or comes inside.
‘He’s a talented player but they have other very good players, as well.
‘They are a good team and it would be wrong for us to focus all our attention on the one player, that’s for sure.’
The first round of the Petrofac Training Cup is usually viewed in a state of barely-concealed indifference. For the sponsors, the sideshow created by the Allan saga is a marvellous state of affairs. Ibrox signing Martyn Waghorn has added fuel to the cocktail by branding Hibs ‘basic’ and ‘nothing great’.
Before leaving Wigan, the striker faced the Edinburgh club in a preseason friendly in Spain earlier this month, scoring twice.
‘Once we cut out the main man (Allan) and stopped them playing, that was it really,’ said the former England Under-21 international.
‘That’s a bit like saying everything at Barcelona goes through Messi,’ said Warburton in response to his player’s comments. ‘That’s fine — but they still had Xavi, Suarez and everyone else playing for them. Hibs are a good team.
‘Yes, he (Allan) is an influential player but every t eam has influential players. We are not underestimating Hibs as a squad.’
Warburton regards today’s game as the fourth match of the preseason schedule. Supporters will place more importance on the occasion. To all intents, this is the new man’s first competitive match as Rangers manager.
A footballing public will watch events with more than a fair share of curiosity and asked what people should expect, the former city trader said: ‘People got a glimpse on Tuesday night against Burnley and it was just a glimpse.
‘For 30-35 minutes, I thought we were decent and we finished the game strongly as well.
‘But I want players who are young and hungry. Not too young — at 18/ 19 there is still too much learning to do but at the 19-23 age bracket, they are young, hungry and have l eague appearances under their belt but they want to strive for more.
‘ They have certainly shown myself and Davie (Weir) enough to know there is a lot more to come from them. You are not taking the finished article at 21 years of age. You are taking good development potential but they’ve shown enough already to have a real impact at this level, which is what we are looking for.’
Young, hungry players on their own need a spine of experience. Lee Wallace captained the team against Burnley and now has a real chance of landing the job on a permanent basis.
‘I’ve been impressed by Lee, really delighted with what he’s shown,’ continued Warburton. ‘I didn’t know him before I came here but I can’t praise him highly enough for the way he has applied himself, the way he has trained and the example he has set to the younger players.
‘His commitment in meetings is good, he always speaks up and gives his opinion.
‘ Sometimes you can burden players with t aking on t he captaincy of a team. It is a big responsibility and sometimes players just want to focus on their own game and nothing else.
‘To perform week in, week out with that blue shirt on and to play at Ibrox is a big challenge in itself and s ometimes adding t he captaincy to that is a bridge too far for some players.
‘ In Lee’s case, he has been magnificent. He has relished the responsibility and we will see how it goes from here.
‘It’s just about dialogue in terms of deciding who will be captain. You need to talk to the players from day one.
‘That old adage about the door always being open is used too often, but the fact is that my door is always open. If they want to come and chat, they can.’
Hibs are good side.. it would be wrong for us to put all the focus on Scott