ALLAN SALE WOULD MAKE A ROD FOR PETRIE’S BACK: STEPHEN McGOWAN
ROD PETRIE has never gone for the big crowd-pleasing gesture. The Hibs chairman doesn’t court acclaim or popularity. He survived protests and a campaign by his own supporters to drive him out. He stood for the SPFL board last week and gained only one vote. From himself. Petrie appears to have few close friends i n Scottish football. And the suspicion is he couldn’t care less.
Which might be just as well. Because where the Rangers bids for Scott Allan are concerned he is stuck between a rock and a hard place. And the hide of a rhino will come in useful however it ends.
Sell and Hibs fans are back at his door with burning pitchforks. Stick to his guns and he has a deeply disenchanted player on his hands.
Rangers have chanced their arm with two bids so far. Both have been rejected. No one believes for a second they will stop there.
Hibs say Allan is not for sale. That they will run down his contract rather than sell to a promotion rival this season.
The rhetoric engaged in these scenarios is often part of a game. A PR and negotiating ploy by the selling club to drive up the price and keep supporters onside.
But this Allan episode is no game for Hibs. It’s fast becoming a live hand grenade.
No one disputes Allan is the best player at Easter Road. He is a clever, imaginative footballer who can see the pass and make things happen.
At 23, he has also attracted admiring glances from Celtic. But with a year left on his contract he wants to join Rangers, his boyhood idols. And Rangers know it.
That’s the reason they have opened the batting with a couple of derisory bids.
The Ibrox club believe they will land their man. That they can mess with Hibs’ heads ahead of today’s Petrofac Cup clash and expect player pressure to pay off.
Normally it would. But to underestimate Petrie or his chief executive Leanne Dempster would be unwise.
Because f or more than one reason this would be a dangerous time for Hibs to buckle under pressure.
The Easter Road club launched an ambitious scheme at the turn of the year to persuade Hibs supporters to invest up to £2.5million in return for 51 per cent of the club.
Chairman of the Hibernian Supporters Limited, Kenny MacAskill, described it as a ‘watershed moment’ for the club.
Scott Allan’s situation could be described in similar terms.
If Hibernian cave in and sell their best player to a promotion rival they not only risk kissing goodbye to Premiership football — they also alienate the very people they are asking to plough cash into the club in return for a share certificate on the wall. The Edinburgh club are making some defiant noises. Manager Alan Stubbs says the player is not j oi ni ng Rangers. Dempster has stated firmly that all bids will be rejected.
On the face of things it makes no sense to hold on to an unsettled player. Dundee United tried to twist Allan’s arm three years ago and lost. It’s inevitable Allan will join Rangers at some point.
But it’s all a question of timing. If the player wants to sign a precontract and leave for a knockdown fee in January, fine. But unless there is £1m on the table, with the cash up front, Hibs have to be seen to stick to their guns.
Because, as Stephen Thompson of Dundee United can attest, selling players to a league rival is a recipe for mutiny. And Petrie has seen enough of those already.
Rangers are in a hurry to do the deal. Allan’s capture would signify a symbolic return to the days when the Ibrox club could take players from Scottish rivals almost at will. It would lend credibility both to Mark Warburton’s squad and the new board who publicly targeted the midfielder at an early stage.
Right now it’s impossible to predict how the Ibrox club will fare this season.
Many of the signings made so far have been underwhelming. Despite promising signs against Burnley on Tuesday no one knows for sure how t hey will shape up in competitive action. Least of all the supporters they are asking to buy season tickets in large numbers. The pitch becomes much easier with Allan in the team.
The problem for Rangers is this. Clubs with serious ambitions don’t sell their best player to a major rival on the eve of the new season. Hibs and their chairman have made big, unpopular decisions before. Selling Scott Allan to Rangers would top them all.