Rangers: Players put club’s survival ahead of personal issues

CARLOS Bocanegra has pledged that the Rangers players will set aside concerns over their employment prospects at the financially stricken club in order to help lift the gloom of the supporters.

The American defender, who joined the Scottish champions from St Etienne at the start of the season, believes the onus is on Ally McCoist’s squad to bring at least some positivity to a dire situation with their performances on the pitch.

Rangers will start Saturday’s match against Kilmarnock at Ibrox trailing Celtic by 14 points at the top of the SPL table with just 12 fixtures remaining, in the wake of the 10-point deduction imposed for the club’s entry into administration.

Bocanegra says that the short-term position of the players must be of secondary importance to the long-term survival of Rangers for their committed following.

“For the support, I know it is really frustrating because as players we come and go,” said the 32-year-old. “But the fans have been here for a long time, so hopefully it works out in the best possible scenario.

“They give us excellent support and I hope that everyone still comes out to cheer us on. As players we need to go out and perform and give them something to be happy about.

“They need something at the weekend to raise the spirits, but they are all staying behind us and the support has been fantastic since I’ve been here and that’s been a really cool experience.

“I don’t see that going anywhere. The fans are pretty loyal and their roots are pretty deep and tied in with this club. It’s a difficult situation for them but we need to go out there and give them something to look forward to.

“As a competitor, any time you go on to the field you want to win. Everything else is out of our hands and it might sound cliched to say it, but we can’t do anything about it.

“This is the time when everybody needs to stick together. There might be finger pointing and apportioning of blame, but we are all in it together. We need to stick together and we’ll pull through it. This club has been around for a long time and has a lot of history so it’ll be OK. This club has a lot of support around the world, but especially here with the fanbase in Glasgow.”

Bocanegra’s central defensive partner Dorin Goian, who also joined the club last summer and is under contract until 2014, admits to uncertainty over how this week’s developments will affect Rangers’ performances on the pitch.

The Romanian international says he and his team-mates have been assured by embattled club chairman Craig Whyte that they will receive their wages as scheduled this month but that their futures at Rangers beyond that are unclear.

“I knew that there were problems at the club,” said Goian. “Of course, I knew there was a chance of us going into administration and asked a few people about it, but nobody really could tell us what was happening.

“I spoke about it with my wife and we agreed that you know a team has problems when the owner comes into the dressing room to talk to the players. All I know is that we are in administration, but I do not know what will happen to us.

“The owner came and talked to us. The players asked him some questions and he told us our wages will be paid on time. They now have to decide whether or not to sell any players.

“I don’t know how this team will react on the pitch. Our captain (Steven Davis) has told us we will meet with the PFA to see where we stand. We’ve lost ten points in the league and and I hope that will see a positive reaction from us.”

Juan Manuel Ortiz

Almeria – £500,000

Lee Wallace

Hearts – £1.5 million

Dorin Goian

Palermo – £800,000

Kyle Bartley

Arsenal – Season-long loan

Alejandro Bedoya

Orebro – £400,000

Carlos Bocanegra

St Etienne – £400,000

Matt McKay

Brisbane Roar – £320,000

Sone Aluko

Aberdeen – £150,000

Mervan Celik

GAIS – £240,000

Daniel Cousin

FC Sapins – Free transfer

OUT

Andrew Shinnie

Inverness Caledonian Thistle – Free transfer

Madjid Bougherra

Lekhwiya – £1.7 million

James Beattie

Released from contract

Thomas Bendiksen

Tromso – freedom of contract

David Weir

Released from contract

Jordan McMillan

Dunfermline – free transfer

Nikica Jelavic

Everton – £5.5 million

CURRENTLY OUT ON LOAN

Kyle Hutton (Dunfermline)

John Fleck (Blackpool)

Darren Cole (Partick Thistle)

Kal Naismith (Partick Thistle)

Juan Manuel Ortiz (Almeria)

Grant Adam (Airdrie United)

Jack Werndly (Albion Rovers)

Blair Currie (Hamilton Accies)

CONTRACT EXPIRY

DATES OF CURRENT

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

SUMMER 2012 – Sasa Papac, David Healy, Sone Aluko, Salim Kerkar, Andrew Little, Daniel Cousin

SUMMER 2013 – Kirk Broadfoot, Lee McCulloch, Maurice Edu, John Fleck, Kyle Lafferty, Neil Alexander, Kane Hemmings.

SUMMER 2014 – Dorin Goian, Juan Manuel Ortiz, Carlos Bocanegra, Matt McKay, Alejandro Bedoya, Kyle Hutton.

SUMMER 2015 – Steven Naismith, Mervan Celik, Jamie Ness, Ross Perry, Rhys McCabe.

SUMMER 2016 – Steven Davis, Lee Wallace, Steven Whittaker, Gregg Wylde.

SUMMER 2017 – Allan McGregor.