The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Lichtiesboss eyesfourwins forplay-offs
PAUL SHEERIN believes Arbroath require four wins from their last six games to escape automatic relegation.
And, as such, he knows they are in no position to write off today’s clash with Rangers as a free hit.
The Gayfield manager said: “I think we need four wins. It’s a tall order, but if we achieve that, I think it will be enough to get into the play-offs.
“Maybe the fact that nobody expects us to beat Rangers will relaxe the players and allow them to express themselves.
“But that doesn’t mean we can treat this game as a bonus. We need wins whoever we’re playing against.”
Sheerin saw Angus neighbours Brechin City run Rangers close last weekend, but he also saw that the determination in Ally McCoist’s men to go through the season undefeated in the league still burns strongly.
He said: “A lot of teams have given Rangers a good game, but they know how to close out a match and you’ve got to give them credit for that, despite the fact they’ve obviously got much greater resources.
“They won’t be easing off because the league is won. But, if we could manage to become the first team to beat them it would be a huge result for our season.
“The players were a wee bit flat at training on Monday but they’ve picked up and are looking forward to it.”
Ricky Little is still suspended, while Kenny Deuchar and David Banjo are injury doubts.
Rangers boss Ally McCoist, meanwhile, has defended himself against chairman David Somers’ claims that the decision to sign nine new players last summer was unsustainable — insisting he revamped his squad while slashing the wage bill.
The Ibrox outfit’s interim results were released on Thursday and showed a £3.7 million loss for the seven months up to December.
At the start of that period, McCoist was allowed to agree deals for goalkeepers Cammy Bell and Steve Simonsen as well as defenders Bilel Mohsni, Stevie Smith and Richard Foster. Midfield duo Nicky Law and Arnold Peralta were also signed on free transfers, as were frontmen Nicky Clark and Jon Daly.
But in his statement in the interim report, Somers suggested the club could not afford that kind of influx.
He said: “Operating costs had been running at a rate that could not be sustained by the revenue being generated by the club.
“For example, in the period under review, nine players were signed at a time when the club already had the second highest wage bill in Scottish football whilst playing in the third tier.”
But McCoist insisted his squad required fresh blood if it was to compete against sides in League One and the three domestic cup contests open to them.
Rangers won the third tier with nine games to spare and could yet land a treble if they beat Raith Rovers in next week’s Ramsdens Cup final before facing Dundee United in the last four of theWilliam Hill Scottish Cup.
When asked if he agreed with Somers’ assessment of the summer recruits, the manager said: “I don’t know, I don’t do the accounts, I don’t do the finances.
“We felt we needed to bring a lot of players in to win the league, to get to the final of the Ramsdens, to get to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. And we did that.
“I’m led to believe the wages came down from the previous year. So (whether it was sustainable) is something you would have to ask other people. I don’t do the finances.”
The losses reported for the second half of last year were 50% down on the same period 12 months earlier but McCoist insisted he was not panicking about the fallen Glasgow giants’continued money worries.
He said: “Until chief executive Graham Wallace tells me they are going to affect my plans for next season, there is no use me worrying about them.”
Ian Black will miss Rangers’ trip to Gayfield today — but midfield colleague Nicky Law could feature.
The former Motherwell man suffered a back injury against Brechin last week and will be given a fitness test but Black faces a race against time to be fit for the Ramsdens Cup final a week on Sunday after injuring his foot against the Glebe Parkers.