27-07-2015, 21:35
Just out of curiosity 0762, where was your sense of righteous indignation when you were celebrating Celtic's signing of Nadir Ciftci after a series of incremental bids that were conducted very much in the public eye?
I mean, what really is the difference between this and hundreds of other high profile transfers bids every year that are widely covered by the media prior to any agreement being reached? Except for the fact that leaked confidential information from Ibrox has become the bread and butter of Scotland's gutter press and 'independent seekers of truth' on the internet, that is, which makes the condemnation of any information leaking from Rangers in relation to this pretty ironic.
And what about the persistent rumours of interest from Celtic? Who's to say it's not your club who's been leaking information about the bids in an attempt to provoke a higher offer from Celtic. They've got a history in recent times of throwing more money at players we've been linked with, so who's to say that wouldn't happen here? What benefit does it do Rangers to have the amount of the bids known by the public? It's only really Hibs who can gain from that in any way. And the person who's provided the most column inches on the whole thing is Alan Stubbs, who has repeatedly spoken to the media about it. We don't even have to try to pique the player's interest because as a free agent last summer he was happy to talk to the press about his desire to join up at Ibrox, but of course Ally decided he wasn't worth a bid when there were 30-somethings out there to provide 'experience'.
Moving to Hibs has certainly helped him get his career back on track, and from being a largely unheralded talent who had faded into obscurity in England, he's now being talked about in (albeit in ridiculously overblown terms) as one of Scotland's best midfielders. But the days of indentured labour are over and he doesn't owe you any more than you're willing to offer him, which I'm guessing isn't a huge amount financially. In any other walk of life an employee who wanted to leave to work for a larger business for a higher salary would be free to do so if he gave due notice. Football being what it is that's not the way it works, but I don't think there's any moral high ground to be taken by forcing a player to remain at a place he doesn't want to be purely for the club's selfish aims. Arsenal weren't pilloried for trying to buy Luis Suarez and nor was he at fault for wanting to leave Liverpool at the time. And while Liverpool took an admirable stance based on principal, it certainly wasn't a moral one as they reneged on a condition of Suarez's employment with them.
Sterling's position is slightly different, as he downed tools and demanded a move before there was any club bidding for him. At the end of the day his decision was based on greed and his desire to take short-cuts to success by finding a cub that was already winning trophies. It's not exactly unusual in football though, and Rangers have benefited from that sort of attitude plenty over the years. But Allan wants to join because he's a fan and because we can provide a bigger and subjectively better platform for him. As I've said before though, if he doesn't get his move he should get his head down at Hibs and give his all for the side. If he doesn't do that he will be a lot more like Sterling and that will be big a disappointment for everyone.
I mean, what really is the difference between this and hundreds of other high profile transfers bids every year that are widely covered by the media prior to any agreement being reached? Except for the fact that leaked confidential information from Ibrox has become the bread and butter of Scotland's gutter press and 'independent seekers of truth' on the internet, that is, which makes the condemnation of any information leaking from Rangers in relation to this pretty ironic.
And what about the persistent rumours of interest from Celtic? Who's to say it's not your club who's been leaking information about the bids in an attempt to provoke a higher offer from Celtic. They've got a history in recent times of throwing more money at players we've been linked with, so who's to say that wouldn't happen here? What benefit does it do Rangers to have the amount of the bids known by the public? It's only really Hibs who can gain from that in any way. And the person who's provided the most column inches on the whole thing is Alan Stubbs, who has repeatedly spoken to the media about it. We don't even have to try to pique the player's interest because as a free agent last summer he was happy to talk to the press about his desire to join up at Ibrox, but of course Ally decided he wasn't worth a bid when there were 30-somethings out there to provide 'experience'.
Moving to Hibs has certainly helped him get his career back on track, and from being a largely unheralded talent who had faded into obscurity in England, he's now being talked about in (albeit in ridiculously overblown terms) as one of Scotland's best midfielders. But the days of indentured labour are over and he doesn't owe you any more than you're willing to offer him, which I'm guessing isn't a huge amount financially. In any other walk of life an employee who wanted to leave to work for a larger business for a higher salary would be free to do so if he gave due notice. Football being what it is that's not the way it works, but I don't think there's any moral high ground to be taken by forcing a player to remain at a place he doesn't want to be purely for the club's selfish aims. Arsenal weren't pilloried for trying to buy Luis Suarez and nor was he at fault for wanting to leave Liverpool at the time. And while Liverpool took an admirable stance based on principal, it certainly wasn't a moral one as they reneged on a condition of Suarez's employment with them.
Sterling's position is slightly different, as he downed tools and demanded a move before there was any club bidding for him. At the end of the day his decision was based on greed and his desire to take short-cuts to success by finding a cub that was already winning trophies. It's not exactly unusual in football though, and Rangers have benefited from that sort of attitude plenty over the years. But Allan wants to join because he's a fan and because we can provide a bigger and subjectively better platform for him. As I've said before though, if he doesn't get his move he should get his head down at Hibs and give his all for the side. If he doesn't do that he will be a lot more like Sterling and that will be big a disappointment for everyone.