Kenny Miller: Rangers finance fears not an issue

KENNY Miller has revealed that he was neither given nor asked for any pledges from the Rangers hierarchy about the financial state of the club before he signed on this week at Ibrox for a third time.

Kenny Miller signs for Rangers for the third time. Picture: John Devlin

The 34-year-old was paraded yesterday after agreeing a one-year deal with Ally McCoist’s Championship side, having departed the last incarnation of Rangers in January 2011.

He did so aware of the need then for cost-cutting with the club facing an uncertain future. And, despite the subsequent liquidation and rebirth of the club in the lower leagues, the following year, Rangers are still mired in monetary issues that have been exacerbated by the refusal of supporters’ bodies to purchase season tickets.

After 35,000 were sold last season, it has been reported that only 15,000 have been purchased this summer.

That figure has raised concerns over Rangers’ ability to avoid a second insolvency event, only a matter of months after they required a £1.5 million loan to meet their liabilities, but that prospect was not raised by any party during Miller’s negotiations over a return.

“I’ve not sought anything. I’m here to play football,” said the striker when questioned as to whether he had asked for assurances over Rangers’ finances. “If things happen off the field then I’m sure I’ll have to deal with it like everybody else at the club when that happens, but hopefully it won’t. Hopefully, we won’t get back to the situation we have found ourselves in before.

“For me, I wanted to come back to this club to play football, pull that jersey on and get out in that stadium in front of these fantastic fans and play again and I am just fortunate enough to have that opportunity again.”

Miller wasn’t keen yesterday to air his thoughts on the demise of the club that followed his move to Turkish side Bursaspor, the end of his two-and-a-half year stint coming at a time when Rangers were only five months away from clinching a third consecutive top-flight title.

“I was keeping tabs on it, but I wouldn’t want to make any comment on it because I don’t know enough about it,” he said. “Obviously, what has happened over the past few years has been sad for any Rangers fan, player or ex-player with the position that we have found ourselves in over the past two years.”