Hibs boss Pat Fenlon says Rangers uncertainty has disrupted SPL clubs summer signing plans
Hibs boss Pat Fenlon says signing plans have been delayed due to the Rangers situation
Hibs boss Pat Fenlon has
admitted the uncertainty which has gripped Scottish football
is playing havoc with clubs’ summer recruitment plans.
Fenlon has been more active than most SPL managers in recent weeks, signing up Tim Clancy, James McPake and Paul Cairney with plans to bring further new faces to Easter Road as he starts to rebuild his squad.
But the financial meltdown at Rangers, now thrown out of the top flight of Scottish football and anxiously waiting to discover at which level they might be accepted back into the fold with opinion hardening against starting next season in the First Division, has, Fenlon revealed, caused problems elsewhere.
Some clubs have put a freeze on signing new players despite the new season only being a month away until the full implications are known, budgets having been thrown into disarray by the overwhelming vote to refuse Charles Green to transfer Rangers’ share in the SPL over to a newco, although, it has to be said, they were well aware of the financial consequences of their decision.
Fenlon said: “There’s uncertainty because no-one knows what is going on, the situation is as clear as mud. That’s difficult for all clubs, not just this
club, because it’s difficult to say you have ‘x’ amount to spend when you do not know what your turnover is going to be.
“You have to understand that. It can be frustrating from my point of view, but you have to deal with it. That’s the situation, you have to make sure the club is run properly and we continue to do that. You have to be mindful of it but you also want to bring in quality players who are going to improve the position of the club.”
The current transfer window offers Fenlon his first real
opportunity to begin building the side he wants, his dealings in January made with the sole objective of keeping Hibs in the SPL, the upshot being the vast majority of arrivals at that time were on loan with all but McPake, who like Clancy and Cairney has signed a two-year deal, and Honduran midfielder Jorge Claros having now
departed.
Now, though, Fenlon, who took over after Colin Calderwood was sacked in October, is determined to stamp his own mark. He told Hibs TV:
“Normally in football you get a job because someone else has lost his, it’s very unusual to take over a team that’s doing really well.
“Now we are trying to build our own team. We are not
going to be able to build it straight away, in one fell swoop, but it is important to put the foundations in place and build it over a period of time,”
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Saturday 18 May 2013
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