Lee McCulloch to stay but fears Rangers exodus

By TOM ENGLISH
Published on 03/06/2012 00:00

Lee McCulloch has spoken about the nightmare all Rangers people are living through right now, saying that he wants to return to play for the club next season but worries about his team-mates, many of whom may leave.

“I have a year left so I will be back next year,” he said. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. I want to stay and play and I just pray every day that something gets sorted. The big worry is the players who have got these things in their contracts that they can move for silly amounts of money. I think that’s a big problem.

“I’d be lying if I said I could switch off on holiday with everything that is going on. It’s a bit of a nightmare. There must be a few people to blame. One man can’t do all this. It’s there, we have to deal with it and get on with it. Anyone can sit and point the finger, that’s not for me.”

Meanwhile, Andy Kerr, president of the Rangers Supporters Assembly, has again expressed his fears, and the fears of many Rangers fans, about Charles Green and his mysterious consortium. Kerr, and others, are looking for Green’s proof of funding and if they don’t get it then he will not encourage supporters to invest in a season ticket. Until assurances are given, there may be a withholding of funds by the fans.

This would be a potential calamity for Green. “The risk is that our £17m worth of season ticket money will by default go to the creditors or, indeed, in his pocket, to put it bluntly. If he can demonstrate and prove that the [financial] wherewithal is in place to see us through, then take us forward, then we’ll be unanimously behind that and encouraging people to buy season tickets as normal. But because of what has happened before, we’re not going to go into that blindly.

“If people are being asked for the season ticket money based on the circumstances we have right now, I would imagine that the vast majority would say, ‘You ain’t getting a penny out of me until I know that you are holding up your part of the bargain’.

“We want reassurances and proof of funding before we commit the season ticket money, rather that that money being required to get the club through to the start of August. We can’t afford another mistake. That might make us appear to be dogmatic and challenging, but it is right that we challenge this, because it’s our club and we’re the biggest investors in it.

“We need to see the evidence. I read the CVA proposal and it just seems as though we will be paying for it. The anxiety comes because this just all looks a bit too familiar.”