DON’T BLAME US
Rangers boss defends Ibrox bids for Allan
MARK WARBURTON insists Rangers have played by the book in their pursuit of Scott Allan.
the Hibs playmaker is at the centre of a heated tug of war ahead of the Petrofac Cup meeting of the clubs at Easter Road this lunchtime.
Rangers have had two bids — the second worth £225,000 — rejected for the 23-year-old but will return to the table with an increased fee to the anger of Hibs, who believe the offers undervalued Allan and have unsettled the player.
It is understood Allan is now unlikely to start today’s clash. Reluctant to discuss a player under contract with another club, however, Ibrox manager Warburton insisted Rangers have conducted themselves properly, saying: ‘As a club? Yes.
‘All I worry about is football here. Football coaching and team management. that’s my job. I let the powers that be do the difficult stuff.
‘My job is to manage the team and look after our squad of players. I think it’s inappropriate for any manager or coach to talk about another
team’s staff. He’s not my player. He’s a Hibs player. I think if anyone was talking about one of my players I would be more than irate. So it’s not for me to talk about another club’s player.’ Warburton knows Alan Stubbs and admits he took a call from his Hibs counterpart when news of a first bid emerged. ‘I know Alan, I worked with him at Everton in the NextGen tournament,’ he said. ‘The club made a bid, so there is obviously interest. There is always interest in a club like Rangers in improving the quality of the squad. ‘Alan made their stance very clear to me and I respectfully said he’s not my player, he’s your player, so I won’t be talking about one of your playing staff, which I never have done and never will do.’ A lifelong Rangers fan, Allan wants to become Warburton’s eighth signing of the summer after Rob Kiernan, Martyn Waghorn, Danny Wilson, James Tavernier, Jason Holt, Andy Halliday and keeper Wes Foderingham. John Eustace is still trying to prove his fitness and asked how many he still wants, the Rangers manager added: ‘It’s a balance. We have a good academy here, good players coming through. We want to give them a pathway and, at the same time, allow some very talented young players to get the vital experience to prepare them for playing here in the first team. ‘But I think we are still maybe one or two short of where we want to be. ‘I think you saw on Tuesday that we have some good players in the squad right now. ‘The squad is taking good shape quickly and we are trying to bed in some players. ‘Don’t forget the other night (against Burnley) Tavernier and Waghorn had been with us from the previous afternoon and trained for only 20 minutes, so it takes time to bed in players. Hence the call for a bit of patience. ‘Hopefully, we will get that patience. ‘We are only one or two away from the ideal squad.’