Smith criticises Kinnear, insisting Newcastle have not enquired about Ferguson

Published on Sunday 4 January 2009 20:33

WALTER Smith believes Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear may be guilty of trying to appease his own supporters by publicly declaring an interest in signing Rangers captain Barry Ferguson.

Kinnear claimed at the weekend he had made an initial enquiry for Ferguson, identifying the Scotland midfielder as the kind of January recruit Newcastle require in their fight against relegation from the Premier League.

Smith, however, has insisted Rangers have received no contact from Newcastle for the player and expressed his bewilderment at Kinnear's comments.

"It is strange, I must say, especially when he (Kinnear] has been quoted as saying he has been in contact with Rangers," said Smith after his team's 3-0 win at Inverness Caledonian Thistle yesterday.

"As far as my chairman (David Murray], chief executive (Martin Bain] and myself are concerned, there has been no contact from Newcastle or any other club. I can appreciate a manager being interested in the player, but whether this has been done to pacify his own support, I don't know. If his comments are accurate, I just don't know how he can say he has contacted Rangers when that is not the case."

Ferguson, 30, had a previous spell in the English Premier League when he joined Blackburn Rovers for 7.5 million in August 2003. He returned to Rangers in January 2005, however, and has consistently said he regretted leaving the club he supported as a boy in the first place. It is understood Ferguson, under contract until 2010, has no interest in leaving Rangers for a second time, even if the Ibrox club are in a financial situation where they are obliged to consider any serious bids for their players.

"The players we are looking to move on are the ones who are currently outside the first team group," added Smith. "Jean-Claude Darcheville was the first of those when he moved to Valenciennes and there are a number of others. But at the moment the only offer we have had for any player is from Wolves for Alan Gow. Yet all the speculation I keep reading is about players who are actually in the first team at the moment.

"I can have no influence on who wants to bid for any of our players. What football manager can say that if someone comes in with a bid for one of their players they won't consider it? You have to. We had that situation with Alan Hutton last season. If someone comes in, then we will give them an answer."

Smith was satisfied with his team's victory in Inverness which reduced Celtic's lead at the top of the SPL to five points. "We deserved to win in the end, but I was a little bit disappointed in the way we played in the first half," he said. "Everyone was aware we needed to lift the performance in the second half and we got the perfect lift with Pedro Mendes' goal right after the restart."

Mendes and Kenny Miller limped out of the match with thigh and calf injuries respectively, but Smith expects them both to recover in time for Rangers' next match against St Johnstone in the fourth round of the Homecoming Scottish Cup on 13 January.

Inverness manager Craig Brewster watched his side slip to a sixth straight defeat which leaves them at the bottom of the SPL and he admitted their next two games, at home to Partick Thistle in the Scottish Cup and then away to Hamilton Accies in the league, are now critical.

"It's going to be a huge test for us and they are two big games," said Brewster. "There is pressure on managers wherever you are in the league, I'm no different."

Asked if he felt he still had the full confidence of the Caley Thistle board, Brewster replied: "Absolutely. They wouldn't be backing me with our efforts to recruit new players this month if they weren't."

Brewster expects to receive an answer this week from Steven Pressley who has been offered a playing contract at the club for the rest of the season. "I've spoken to Steven and he has got alternatives on the continent," said Brewster. "We will find out later this week if he is coming."