Stubbs is ‘picking numbers out of the sky’
Warburton hits back at jibe over Ibrox finances
MARK WARBURTON has angrily hit out at Alan Stubbs’ claim that Rangers spend four times as much on players as Hibs.
Stubbs’ men closed the gap on the Championship leaders to just five points by defeating them two weeks ago and can reduce that margin by a further three points if they beat Livingston at home tomorrow evening.
Speaking after that 2-1 victory at Easter Road, Stubbs claimed that Rangers were exactly where they should be on account of their vastly superior resources.
‘We’re close to Rangers and you’ve got to remember that their budget is significantly bigger than anyone else in the league,’ he stated.
‘I would say it’s at least four times bigger than ours, so they should be out there in front.
‘Mark Warburton has done a really good job. They’ve had a fantastic start, so for us to only be five points behind speaks volumes about how well we’ve done.’
Responding to Stubbs’ claim for the first time, however, Warburton suggested that his Easter Road counterpart had got his figures badly wrong.
The Ibrox boss also took a swipe at Stubbs for his claim earlier this season that the finance and economics at Rangers made managing the club easy.
‘Number one: I’m not sure where they’re finding their information from, once again they are just picking numbers out of the sky,’ Warburton insisted.
‘Number two: I heard previously that managing Rangers was a really easy job. That’s what I was told earlier.
‘In that respect, I think it’s really important you only talk about your own club — that’s not being rude.
‘I’ll be answering questions about Rangers. I wouldn’t for the life of me talk about another football club for the wrong reasons.
‘To talk about budgets — we have a smaller budget than Brentford had last year when we finished fifth in the Championship.
‘Again, the focus is talk about your own team.’
Despite Hibs’ remarkable league run of nine wins and a draw since losing at Ibrox back in August, Warburton has been keen to reassure his players that they still hold the edge in the title contest.
‘Let’s be honest, the players read what the media produce,’ he added.
‘They’ll see: “It’s a disaster, you’re only five points clear at the top”.
‘That’s what we said to them. Everyone would agree that Hearts ran away with it last year.
‘Danny Wilson and Jason Holt are here now, and they were members of that Hearts team. But we are actually one point better off than they were at this stage.
‘That’s how bad we are doing. That’s not in an arrogant way. That’s just us saying to the players not to lose confidence or the belief in what we are doing.
‘You’re doing OK right now. You’ve lost one game of football — a game we felt we should really have got something out of.’ Meanwhile, Rangers have announced that Douglas Park has joined the board for a second time.
Park became a director following the Extraordinary General Meeting in March that saw Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan wrestle control from the former regime, primarily the Easdale brothers and representatives of Mike Ashley.
Park stepped down from his position in August due to business commitments, however, and was replaced in the boardroom by his son Graeme.
The Parks Motor Group chief — one of the Three Bears consortium alongside George Letham and George Taylor — has now returned to the club and Graeme Park will also retain his place.
He said: ‘It is a privilege to be asked to become a Director of this club and it was always my intention to return.
‘I am confident the club is on the correct path and I am delighted that I am now able to return to the board and help take Rangers forward into what I believe will be a bright future for the club and the supporters.’
“You shouldn’t ever speak about another club”