sympathetic towards El Artista. After all, having been booted up and down
by the SPL's hammer-throwers and had his evasive action to every wild tackle
dismissed as a dive, he was perfectly entitled to feel more than a wee bit
brassed off. And if given a choice, I think most of us would admit we'd opt
for sunny Spain over pissing wet Scotland as a better place to hang our hat.
Rangers' reluctant willingness to listen to offers was perfectly
understandable. An unhappy player is a bad influence on morale. Having
seen Mikel happily blend in with the rest of the squad, it wouldn't be too
clever to upset the harmony by holding him against his will, just as testing
his obvious love of Rangers by standing in his way would be a bad idea -
almost as bad as announcing he wants to leave when the player is perfectly
happy at Ibrox.
Somebody, somewhere is telling porkies and it is a clear indication of our
lack of trust in those currently running the show that we prefer to believe
Arteta before Bain - maybe Mikel's love of the club has become a liability!
- and I'm inclined to agree with Amo's assertion that every single member of
Big Eck's squad is wearing a 'For Sale' sign. All of which is a very sad
state of affairs.
Nobody is hiding from harsh reality here. If a funny-money offer comes in
for a player, there isn't a club in the world who won't give it serious
consideration. Given Rangers' grim situation, we are more vulnerable than
most to the 'sensational swoop', especially if the interest comes from one
of the Continent's giants.
But that isn't how it is with Arteta. By floating the homesick story, our
bean-counters are touting for offers for a prized asset in the same way as a
shifty ponce would hawk a Louis Lamour's talents around a knocking-shop.
Definitely not the Rangers way, Mr Bain.
But the damage has been done. Mikel Arteta now feels he is unwanted and,
quite rightly, he is giving some thought to where his future lies. And what
message does that give to the others in the dressing room? Big Eck is
building a squad while others behind the scenes are trying to disrupt his
good work. Caniggia and Numan have gone, Amo will soon follow, MM is in
limbo and Arteta is on the way out. That's five players moving on from the
team which clinched the title. C'mon, there has to be a better way.
Where will it end? How many of our Treble winning heroes are now asking
themselves if they will ever experience such glory again? At a time when we
should be building from a position of strength, Rangers are down-sizing.
Every so often, somebody from the boardroom speaks out, talks about the need
to economise, but promises that it is all in the club's best long-term
interests. But they are always reluctant to be too specific, preferring to
rabbit on in general terms, instead of telling it like it is.
It is high time for Rangers to come clean. We know we are in debt, we know
the numbers and we know the club has to tighten its belt. But what is the
master plan? Is there a master plan? If the directors are open with us,
they might be pleasantly surprised to find we are very receptive to what
they have to say. After all, we want the same thing (we do, don't we?) so
we should surely be able to work together towards a common goal.
But Chief can't speak with forked tongue on this one. We have to be able to
trust them and they have to trust us. The Mikel Arteta story is yet
another PR debacle, one which has upset the player, angered the fans,
ridiculed the club and once more cast a dark shadow of doubt over what
should be a bright future.
It's just not good enough.
LITTLE BOY BLUE
PS Contrary to what so many of the Hack Pack have been saying over the past
week, Mikel Arteta's last minute penalty against Dunfermline DID NOT clinch
the SPL flag for Rangers. Even without his goal, a 5-1 victory would have
been enough for the Gers by virtue of our guys having scored more goals than
Septic but, of course, journos never have allowed the truth to get in the
way of a juicy line. In years to come, Arteta's departure 'within days of
clinching the league with a dodgy last minute penalty' will become a hard
fact. Don't let them get away with it.