Once they were deposited into the third division, the inevitable rise of the newco Rangers from the bottom of the Scottish football pyramid back to the place at the top table where they belong was always going to be an interesting story.
It came as a pleasant surprise to Gers fans, and a shock to everyone else, that a few first team players chose to stay. Veterans Neil Alexander and Lee McCulloch, both aged 34, are rumoured to be on huge salaries as a result of their contracts being TUPE-d across to the newco...wages that no-one else would be lunatic enough to offer. Kirk Broadfoot and Lee Wallace also stayed at Ibrox, the latter's apparent loyalty to the cause severely damaging his Scotland prospects. A few other big names are still loitering around - Romanian Dorin Goian, and the American trio of Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya - but the latter two are on the way out and Goian and Bocanegra certainly have offers from elsewhere. Already we have seen a cohort head for the exit door - McGregor, Papac, Whittaker, Aluko, Davis, Kerkar, McCabe, Ness, Ortiz, Fleck, Healy, Lafferty, Naismith and plenty more.
So, with the club's income slashed as a result of the negligible prize money and TV money available from playing in the diddy leagues, as well as an inevitable drop in revenue at the gate caused by reduced attendances and lower ticket prices, and a 12 month transfer embargo commencing as soon as this window slams shut at the end of the month, plus Charles Green's assertion that Rangers would "never have debts again", Rangers squad for the upcoming season will depend heavily on the Murray Park graduates who have remained, plus maybe a few hardened professionals from the divisions above who are more than good enough for the third and second division promotion campaigns.
...or so logic dictates. Reality appears to conflict with that.
Today Rangers signed three players. First up, we have former Scottish international striker Kevin Kyle who joins after leaving Hearts in March. Of course, the reason Kyle left Hearts was because he has an injury record that makes Michael Owen look invincible. He hasn't made a first team appearance since they invented the wheel (oh, all right, it was January 2011. But that's still ages). At least Rangers have only risked giving him a one year contract. I wonder how much money he'll end up making per appearance - what do you get when you divide by zero again?
Also arriving was Spanish forward Francisco Sandaza, who scored 18 goals for St. Johnstone last season. Oldco Rangers of course bidded for Sandaza back in January - a pretty cynical move considering they clearly didn't have the money to pay for him. He's signed a three year contract for £5,000 a week, apparently - interestingly he had been offered a pre-contract at the beginning of the year for the same amount, but had denounced the Gers as cheapskates! I'm amazed he hadn't had a better offer...or at least an offer from a better club...
And the other man through the door? Well, how many of you have ever thought to yourself "What a team really needs in order to win the Scottish third division is a Brazilian defender"? Enter Emilson Cribari. He has Champions League experience with Lazio...four years ago. He has just left Brazilians Cruzeiro, where he managed a grand total of five appearances last season. And he is 32. He has signed up for two years. So by the time Rangers reach the first division, he will be 34 and out of contract. Er, what on earth?
And of course, the newco have already signed up two guys who made my SPL Team of the Year for 2011/12, Ian Black and Dean Shiels. Hearts couldn't afford to offer Black a new deal, so he signs for Rangers, who still owe the Tynecastle side £700,000 for Lee Wallace's transfer a year ago. Kilmarnock claim they had to reduce their wage offer to Shiels because of the unclear financial climate caused by the oldco's collapse; Shiels thus turned down the chance to keep playing for the team coached by his dad in order to go to Peterhead and East Stirling next season. Black was on the brink of the Scotland squad after a fine campaign; you can bet he isn't now. But both will apparently earn £7,000 a week - do you think that might have been a factor?
Where Sir David Murray once said "For every fiver that Celtic spend, we'll spend a tenner", presumably Green is going for "For every quid that Elgin spend, we'll spend a tenner".
But where on earth is the money coming from?
Whilst clearly no more than an educated guess, Paul McConville reckoned that, as of 27th July, Rangers' wage bill was at £5.2 million a year, including coaching staff. That was before the five new signings. Their wages may be cancelled out by the departures of the four men mentioned above - the Americans and Goian. But even if that wage bill stays the same, McConville reckons that Rangers would have to get at least 33,000 through the gate at every home game just to break even. And that's considered a best-case scenario.
So why are Rangers paying extortionate wages to these players, when they could easily win the third and second divisions with cheaper players? Here are the possibilities I can think of...
1) Green actually does have a £30 million warchest, as claimed a few months back by the Daily Record (I don't believe this for a second)
2) Season ticket sales are slower than a snail on sedatives, so Green is hopeful that signing good players will bring the fans in
3) The new club's money is being squandered recklessly...the more things change, the more they stay the same
4) Green has been told by the powers-that-be that imminent league reconstruction means that Rangers will be in the SPL, or close to it, as soon as next season (given the events of the summer, I can easily believe this will happen - this is The Conspiracy Theory for all non-Rangers fans)
5) Green has not been told the above, but has claimed to Black, Shiels et al that he has, and he's lured them to Ibrox under that pretence
6) Green is just an asset stripper, and wants to run Rangers into the ground with reckless spending before walking away with Ibrox, Murray Park etc (this is The Conspiracy Theory for all Rangers fans)
Anyone else got any clever ideas? It certainly doesn't make any logical sense to me that Rangers feel the need to line up against the likes of Clyde with a strike force of Sandaza and Kyle (or, if he signs as well, Craig Beattie), supported by Shiels from midfield, with Black spraying the passes, and a Brazilian in the heart of the defence. It's harder to understand than the points race in the cycling Omnium. Unless Charles Green knows something the rest of us don't.
L.
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