Walter:We have said we have to sell players before we can buy.

[Boab 73]

Smith said farewell to shamed ex-skipper Barry Ferguson last week as he sealed a £1.2million move to Birmingham.

That helped cash-strapped Gers slice a huge chunk off the Ibrox wage bill, but according to Ibrox insiders, Smith is only halfway through his task of slicing TEN players off his first-team squad.

Fergie, Brahim Hemdani, Christian Dailly and Graeme Smith have all moved on, clearing over £50,000-a-week from the pay-roll while Andy Webster has joined Dundee United on loan.

Smith added: "We'll not be bringing any new players in as it stands at the moment. We have said we have to sell players before we can buy. It's just something we have to adjust to.

"Losing the Setanta TV cash doesn't help either. These things are all involved in the finance that comes into your club, therefore it all has an effect.

"Even Barry's transfer doesn't allow us to bring anyone in, not at present. It does seem Manchester City appear to be in another world in England right now.

"They're buying a lot of top players and are having a push at breaking into England's top four clubs.

"It is an interesting scenario in England when you see another team trying to break into that group in the manner they have been doing.

"Davie Moyes has tried to take Everton there for the last few years and has done so in a totally different manner from Manchester City.

"So it will be interesting, they may have another two or three signings by the time they come to play us.

"Mark Hughes did exceptionally well as Blackburn boss, but people need to have the patience to allow a team to settle in.

"It's okay to buy a number of players, as he will do between now and the end of August, but they have to have time to gel and become a team."

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/scottish/s...n-McGregor.html

Certain pundits and punters seem unable to get their heads around the fact that Smith has no shekels to shove on new arrivals. On one BBC blog this week the talk was of it being "unlikely" Smith would go on a "signing spree". It is unlikely in the same way that it is unlikely he will be trekking across the Andes in preparation for the coming season. The Rangers manager has dropped the heaviest hints possible that squad reduction will be his only concern over the next two months. Yet still many have taken it upon themselves to assume Smith is merely in a sell-before-he-buys situation.

On Friday at Murray Park, he disabused anyone of such a notion. Asked whether Barry Ferguson's £1.25m move to Birmingham City would "open up opportunities to spend" and allow him to "bring anybody in", Smith could not have been more categoric in answering in the negative. "No, not at present it doesn't," he said. "It doesn't allow us anything like that. We'll not be bringing anybody in as it stands at the present moment."

Unsurprisingly, he could hardly be specific about what it would take for the position to change. "The chairman has spoken about the financial aspect, it's just something we have to adjust to," Smith said. "We've said we'd have to sell players before we can buy so we have to wait until arises before we can make any judgment on bringing anybody in''

Unsurprisingly, he could hardly be specific about what it would take for the position to change. "The chairman has spoken about the financial aspect, it's just something we have to adjust to," Smith said. "We've said we'd have to sell players before we can buy so we have to wait until a situation arises before we can make any judgment on bringing anyone in."

Since January, Murray has been open and honest about the club's financial predicament. He said during that window that player(s) had to be sold to plug a £3m gap in the club's £25m liabilities; and that it would be necessary to reduce the squad from 28 to 20 senior players to arrive at a sustainable wage bill.

The £10m Rangers are guaranteed from direct entry to the Champions League group stage does not negate the need to make the cuts and savings previously deemed necessities, but which have not yet been effected. The departure of discredited former captain Ferguson – a parting said by Smith to be "best for both parties, taking into consideration everything that happened last season, plus the fact he's coming into the last year of his contract" – simply means that the club would have to bank another £3m from player sales before there would be any sizeable sum to reinvest in the squad. Only by selling one of their pivotal performers – Madjid Bougherra, Steven Davis, Kris Boyd or Pedro Mendes – would they surely be able to raise such a figure. To strengthen their squad, then, they would first require to weaken it. And with the poker-like nature of the market at present, twisting might be more of a risk than sticking.

Rangers will hope to offload fringe players such as Charlie Adam, Alan Gow, DaMarcus Beasley and possibly one other out-of-favour player. Combined with the flogging of Ferguson and the freeing of Brahim Hemdani and Christian Dailly, this pruning would put them somewhere close to the position they had hoped to arrive at at the turn of the year. Ironically, their failure to sell Ferguson and, more pertinently, Boyd during the January window probably allowed them to succeed in the championship.

Murray gambled with a signing splurge last summer that, ultimately, his club couldn't really afford. Now he will gamble by relying solely on the heavy spend over the past two closes season. He will do so because, coupled with Smith's stewardship, that proved sufficient to snare the club a first title in four years.

http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/-Summertime-blues.5473018.jp

[Boab 73]

Hope we can keep on selling then!

[Davie2909 21]

Why have these players not been moved on yet then? Surely Walter can get Charlie Adam told he has to go and that would be him off the list.

Demarcus Beasley

Lee McCulloch

Alan Gow

Andrius Velicka

Kirk Broadfoot

should all get punted

[papaguy51 941]

Why have these players not been moved on yet then? Surely Walter can get Charlie Adam told he has to go and that would be him off the list.

Demarcus Beasley

Lee McCulloch

Alan Gow

Andrius Velicka

Kirk Broadfoot

should all get punted

Would you buy any of them if you were a manager?

[Davie2909 21]

Why have these players not been moved on yet then? Surely Walter can get Charlie Adam told he has to go and that would be him off the list.

Demarcus Beasley

Lee McCulloch

Alan Gow

Andrius Velicka

Kirk Broadfoot

should all get punted

Would you buy any of them if you were a manager?

No but there Walter did ha ha surely they can move these guys on. Alan Gow has been on loan twice and nearly moved to Wolves we must beable to get him moved on.

there have to be clubs who would want these guys

[papaguy51 941]

Why have these players not been moved on yet then? Surely Walter can get Charlie Adam told he has to go and that would be him off the list.

Demarcus Beasley

Lee McCulloch

Alan Gow

Andrius Velicka

Kirk Broadfoot

should all get punted

Would you buy any of them if you were a manager?

No but there Walter did ha ha surely they can move these guys on. Alan Gow has been on loan twice and nearly moved to Wolves we must beable to get him moved on.

there have to be clubs who would want these guys

That's depressing now that you say that.

They are all Walter Smith signings

[saintbob1969 1,551]

No premiership team would buy these players, except maybe brittle bone syndrome DMB. But Kirk, Charlie and co would do a job for Stavangar Postal Workers United and Aylesbury DuckPluckers united.

[bluenose_72 198]

Why have these players not been moved on yet then? Surely Walter can get Charlie Adam told he has to go and that would be him off the list.

Demarcus Beasley

Lee McCulloch

Alan Gow

Andrius Velicka

Kirk Broadfoot

should all get punted

Would you buy any of them if you were a manager?

Championship clubs would most likely be interested in a few of them.

[papaguy51 941]

Why have these players not been moved on yet then? Surely Walter can get Charlie Adam told he has to go and that would be him off the list.

Demarcus Beasley

Lee McCulloch

Alan Gow

Andrius Velicka

Kirk Broadfoot

should all get punted

Would you buy any of them if you were a manager?

Championship clubs would most likely be interested in a few of them.

Assuming their main aim was relegation

[dezrfc1 26]

get the likes of beasley and adam out the door along with broadfoot

[Boab 73]

Perhaps Alan Gow would interest Yogi.