DJ: No Rangers player is safe if the price is right

[disgruntled_bear 157]

WALTER SMITH will just have to sit and hope no bids are tabled for his leading players during this transfer window.

The bottom line is that every player is for sale at the right price. If a silly offer comes in for any player at Rangers then it will be accepted.

I'm pretty sure it would be the same at Celtic, although they are in a stronger financial position.

But it would be a massive blow to the Ibrox club's title ambitions if they were to lose the services of Barry Ferguson, Pedro Mendes or Madjid Bougherra to the Premiership.

Newcastle have been linked with Ferguson and it's an interesting situation. Most of us simply expected the captain to spend the rest of his career at the club, but he is out of contract at the end of the season.

Personally, the only thing I can see happening with that one is him signing a new deal to keep him at Rangers.

Barry has already tried the Premiership when he signed for Blackburn Rovers, but he didn't quite settle there and he missed life at Rangers and also his family and friends up here.

I can't imagine a great deal has changed to make him want to move back down there.

To complete a transfer, you need three parties to agree to the deal. You need the buying club to come up with a transfer fee, you need the selling club to accept those terms and you need the player to agree terms and conditions.

So it doesn't necessarily mean Barry would be heading south even if Newcastle came in with a bid. For me, Ferguson is still one of the key players at the club and I can't imagine Smith wanting to lose him.

I find it incredible when I hear Rangers supporters coming on the Radio Clyde phone-in to complain about Ferguson.

Many of them have claimed he hasn't kicked a ball this season, but I don't agree with that.

You must take into consideration the fact he missed the opening three months of the campaign with a serious injury.

You don't just instantly return from that length of time out and immediately pick up where you left off.

And it seems to be forgotten that he was rushed back sooner than the manager, and probably Barry himself, would have liked when Kevin Thomson was KO'd for the rest of the season.

So I feel the criticism aimed at Barry is unfair. He was man of the match against Hibs a couple of weeks ago and there is no doubt in my mind he can operate next to Mendes, who himself has been touted with a return to England.

I can't imagine most of the Rangers players being in a particular hurry to get out of Ibrox. As things stand, they are very much in the title race and the appeal of being involved in a championship-winning side could make them all want to stay.

There are players Walter would like to get out the door. The likes of Christian Dailly and Brahim Hemdani, who will be earning decent money without kicking a ball, are the guys he would rather be moving on.

Walter will want to keep his best players - the guys who are in his starting line-up almost every weekend.

However, as I've mentioned previously, every player has his price, so Walter will need to keep his fingers crossed he doesn't lose his star men.

Title race back in top gear

RANGERS have been written off more than once during this current championship race - but the Ibrox club are still very much in the hunt.

Just over a month ago, when Walter Smith's men slipped seven points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic, many claimed it was all over.

Then, with Celtic losing to Hibs and drawing with Hearts, it offered Rangers a chance to move to within one point of the league leaders had they won the recent Old Firm game. When they lost that one, the gap was back to seven points and once again many insisted again the race was over again.

But with Celtic dropping two points at home over the weekend to Dundee United, and Rangers defeating Caley Thistle in Inverness, it brings the difference between the two clubs back to five points.

This season, Rangers and Celtic have shown they are unable to dominate the smaller clubs as they've done in the past. So you can't bank on either side not dropping points between now and the end of the campaign.

I honestly believe the title race could go all the way to the wire again this term, just like last season. And it just goes to show you that reactions immediately after disappointing results can be over the top.

Kris and make up lads

KRIS BOYD should consider himself lucky if he is handed an opportunity to make a return to the Scotland set-up.

In the past, once a player had turned his back on the international team, there was no way he would have been welcomed back into the fold.

But Scotland manager George Burley has hinted at an olive branch and I hope the pair of them can sit down, along with SFA chief executive Gordon Smith, and sort things out.

We can't afford to do without leading goalscorers and there is no doubt Boyd is the best we've got in terms of hitting the net.

I think his overall game has improved since he quit Scotland and he is now in the startling line-up at Ibrox which wasn't the case before.

I think it is in everyone's best interests if Boyd returns to the international set-up and I'm sure if that does happen the big striker will be grateful at being given a second chance.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/displa...ce_is_right.php

[BlueIsTheColour 35]

DJ in stating the obvious shocker.

Of course every player is available at the right price, that isn't exclusive to Rangers or indeed our current financial situation. No offence to the guy, he was a great servant to the club but the quality of his writing is about as bad as his transfer exclusives.

[papaguy51 912]

DJ in stating the obvious shocker.

Of course every player is available at the right price, that isn't exclusive to Rangers or indeed our current financial situation. No offence to the guy, he was a great servant to the club but the quality of his writing is about as bad as his transfer exclusives.

His articles are scripted torture

[Muff 245]

If a silly offer comes in for any player at Rangers then it will be accepted.

Same for the majority of clubs around Europe then.

[mannan 0]

the guy is a totally idiot regardless of his history with the club, the sort of yes man that i cant stand

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

Er - Already we have a candidate for the 2009 stating the fucking obvious award Nomination DJ.

[ManchestGer 347]

Cheers DJ I feel a lot more knowledgeable now!