Warburton happy after O’Halloran seals move
MARK WARBURTON last night declared himself content at Rangers’ transfer dealings in the January window. The Ibrox boss secured St Johnstone winger Michael O’Halloran on a four-and-a-halfyear deal after his board met the Perth club’s £500,000 valuation yesterday morning. Warburton missed out when his other top target Toumani Diagouraga moved from Brentford to Leeds but he captured Doncaster midfielder Harry Forrester, Polish back-up keeper Maciej Gostomski and Hearts forward Billy King on loan. Accrington Stanley duo Matt Crooks and Josh Windass have also been secured on pre-contracts. Despite the activity, chairman Dave King’s pledge to ‘over invest’ in the squad has been a bone of contention for fans throughout the window. But Warburton is adamant he never wanted to draft in any more ready-made first-team players than he has done — for fear of upsetting his squad’s harmony. ‘I’ve always said we wanted one or two in,’ he insisted. ‘Harry Forrester has arrived and come on in the last couple of games and did well. Maciej has come in for goalkeeper cover to push
Cammy (Bell) and Wes (Fotheringham) really hard. ‘The Accrington boys are good business for the summer and we got the boys in we wanted. ‘The chairman said he thinks we need five new players but he didn’t say in January. ‘I absolutely agree with him and in the summer I will be looking to add at least another four to six players to the squad — but not in January. ‘I would never, ever do that. The worst thing you can do is bring in too many in January — that’s far more damaging than not bringing in enough. ‘I look at my bench for tomorrow (game at Raith Rovers) and it will be the strongest I’ve had since I came here. A sign of a good squad
is the strength of the bench.’ O’Halloran came through Celtic’s ranks before moving to Bolton as a teenager. However, it was his time at St Johnstone where he really made a name for himself — playing a pivotal role in Saints’ Scottish Cup triumph of 2014. Although he was on Rangers’ radar before a starring role in the Perth side’s 3-1 League Cup win at Ibrox early this season, Warburton admits that performance played a huge part in him pulling out all the stops to land him. ‘When we did our analysis on St Johnstone, their threat came from the pace of O’Halloran, and he proved it on the night,’ he added. ‘We’ve watched him countless times since and he ticks our boxes in terms of being relatively young but with experience. ‘He’s physically strong, quick and has an eye for a goal. We are delighted to get him on board.’ Warburton, whose side travel to play Raith in the Championship tonight, shot down suggestions that a delay over Barrie McKay’s new deal could see the player move to Derby County. ‘It’s a pure fallacy,’ he said. ‘We are nearly there with Barrie. He is in a good place and we are delighted with his performances.’ Warburton was also dismissive of suggestions linking Nicky Law with a move to St Johnstone. ‘Nicky Law has started five of the last six games for us, so I was amazed to see comments about him going anywhere,’ he said. ‘He is in for tomorrow.’