WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY
King claims Warburton was given extra cash but signings flopped
Leaking board-room secrets. And squandering a £5million summer transfer kitty.
Rangers chairman Dave King didn’t hold back when he opened fire on Mark Warburton last night.
The Ibrox owner put his head above the parapet in South Africa to launch a blistering attack on the departed English manager.
King didn’t name Warburton when he spoke about leaks from the top of the marble staircase. But he had a clear target in mind.
And when it came to accusations about over-spending on players and under-achieving on the pitch – King didn’t miss.
Warburton is still adamant that, along with assistant Davie Weir and chief scout Frank McParland, he hasn’t resigned from the club.
But King has told supporters unequivocally that, after being informed of the trio’s wish to ply their trade elsewhere, the board had to let them go.
Rangers’ major shareholder insisted it was always Warburton’s ambition to use the Ibrox club as a stepping stone to a big English club.
In the summer, King believed Gers were well on track. Promotion from the Championship had been achieved in style – and the manager had added value to the squad.
But last summer, King says Warburton deviated from the plan of signing five or six more players and brought in considerably more.
In two transfer windows, he snared 14 players – Matt Gilks, Lee Hodson, Clint Hill, Philippe Senderos, Matt Crooks, Josh Windass, Joey Barton, Niko Kranjcar, Jordan Rossiter, Joe Garner, Joe Dodoo, Jon Toral, Emerson Hyndman and Ben Alnwick.
Yet Gers are currently third in the Scottish Premiership, a massive 27 points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic.
King insists£ King insists £18m 18m of of the the promised promised £30m has already been invested. And he’s now telling fans that even MORE has to be made available to whoever is in the Ibrox hotseat next season.
In a statement yesterday, King said: “We hired at short notice a relatively untested management team that recruited players and introduced a style that was pleasing to supporters.
“Significant investment was made and the Championship was won in some style. It was an unqualified success and they were rewarded with a vastly improved contract.
“But this season we did not stick to our plan of signing five or six players because the manager appealed to the board for additional
signings. Despite concern about departing from prudent, phased investment, we backed the request for accelerated funds.
“This placed us above the football resources avai lable to our competitors (other than Celtic).
“We expected to finish a strong second in the league with a squad that could be added to, to make a strong impact in the Europa League qualifiers.
“While I still believe we can finish a strong second, we are nowhere near where we had anticipated to be at this stage of the season.
“We have not repeated the success that we had with our signings from the previous year. It’s clear that we are behind our target for next season and it’s the duty of the board to get things back on track.
“£18m of the original estimated £30m investment has already been made. But that will now need to be accelerated at the end of the season.
“We will need to spend more than £30m to be where we want to be.”
Every gaffer comes under scrutiny for their business in the transfer market. But in a fresh twist last night, Warburton was indirectly blamed by King for leaking info from private board meetings.
The Rangers chairman said: “It’s vital for any board to monitor the progress of the company’s financial and operating performance against its budget and plans.
“This is done at regular meetings where all aspects of the business is reviewed and evaluated. What is stated and dealt with in those meetings is confidential.
“Before one at the end of January, I advised the manager that the board wished to review our recruitment plan and performance over the previous two windows.
“This was a routine request and was timely given concerns with regard to the high level of wages we were paying relative to performance on the pitch.
“In particular, a large portion of our wage bill was not seeing regular playing time.
“Normally such a review would remain confidential. However, our board’s routine questioning of management was leaked to the media and conveyed as being a negative reflection of our attitude.
“It was confirmed to me the leak did not come from a board member.
“Irrespective of who leaked the information, it ’s clear from subsequent media comments that the manager did not respond well to the board reviewing his recruitment activity. This is a strange position to adopt. No manager in the world can expect to be beyond scrutiny.”
That, it seems, was the beginning of the end for Warburton as his relationship with King and the Ibrox board broke down.
On Friday night Rangers announced they had accepted the resignations of the gaffer, Weir and McParland.
The club claim it followed a request from their agent to waive any compensation fee in return for them finding a new club, with Nottingham Forest supposedly interested in their services. The trio still deny stepping down.
But King believes it was always Warburton’s intention to use Gers to get where he wanted. He said: “There were rumours the management team ( presumably their agent) was negotiating with English clubs. In one instance, I was informally approached to ask if the club would waive compensation if they were to leave.
“That was unsubstantiated by the club in question but I was alert to a conversation Mark had with me after joining Rangers when he said his long-term ambition was to manage in the EPL.
“He viewed Rangers as a stepping stone. His comments to the media reinforced his unhappiness at the club. “So I wasn’t surprised when the agen t approached our MD St ewa rt Rober tson to request a meeting.
“The agent offered that Mark, David and Frank would resign with immediate effect without compensation as long as the club agreed to waive any fee from a new club they signed for.
“After discussion the board accepted this offer and employment was immediately terminated. As board members we will always put Rangers first.
“While we were dealing with the resignations the agent contacted us and asked to defer it until they had secured a new club. The board met and resolved to hold them to the original agreement.”
King added: “We are now reviewing the best solution for ensuring that a modern, robust footballing structure is put in place that wi l l continue with our philosophy.”
It’s clear we are behind our target for next season ... the board’s duty is to get back on track