Rangers will need to match Celtic's £24million wage spend to challenge...

[ian1964 10,724]

...in the Premiership, says Hearts boss Robbie Neilson.

 

ROBBIE NEILSON reckons Rangers’ return is set to trigger a huge Premiership spending spree - after claiming that the Ibrox club will need a £24 million war chest to challenge Celtic.

 

Hearts are on course to finish third this term behind the Hoops and Aberdeen but Neilson is desperate to build a side that can consistently compete at the top end of the table.

 

That task will be made even harder when runaway Championship leaders Rangers return to the top-flight and reignite the Old Firm rivalry.

 

Neilson said: “Rangers’ budget at the moment will about about £7 million or £8 million. Celtic’s will be £24 million, maybe.

 

“It’s a huge divide. So are Rangers going to come in and hit that right away to try to get level with them?

 

“If they do, it’s going to be hard for the rest of us to compete.

 

“Mark Warburton is coming up from the Championship and there is a huge gulf between the Championship and playing in the top flight.

 

“Can Rangers compete for the title right away? I feel it will be very difficult for them.

 

“I think they’ll need to invest heavily – and I think they will."

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/14403324.Rangers_will_need_to_match_Celtic_s___24million_wage_spend_to_challenge_in_the_Premiership__says_Hearts_boss_Robbie_Neilson/

[der Berliner 3,747]

Sooooo much wisdom oozes out of Robbie's words, it leaves me speechless ...

[pete 2,499]

Sooooo much wisdom oozes out of Robbie's words, it leaves me speechless ...

 

Did Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee and Partick Thisle not drop out of the Scottish cup to Championship sides. Maybe that divide is not so big.

[Bearman 9]

 

“It’s a huge divide. So are Rangers going to come in and hit that right away to try to get level with them?

 

“If they do, it’s going to be hard for the rest of us to compete.

 

 

Could always throw us into the 4th tier again and see how that pans out!

[Widget 1]

There are some managers you can listen to and think mmmm he talks sense. Robbie is not one of them.

[Rousseau 10,640]

Outwith the veracity of his figures, I don't really disagree with what he is saying. Celtic do indeed have a much bigger budget, but I don't think it'll require us to match it per se. There is a gulf in class, but I don't think it's as big as he suggests -- although he is one manager who'd know. I think Hearts have reverted to a more simple game. They played some nice stuff last year, but have since gone back to a game that simply seeks to match opponents for energy, strength, desire etc. If we can add that without having to sacrifice our philosophy, then we'll do alright IMO.

 

To be honest, I don't think we'll be competing with Celtic next year. I'd just like to see us get top 3, and to compete with Hearts and Aberdeen. Not what we want, of course, but I think that's a reasonable target for our first year back.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Rousseau

[RANGERRAB 3,677]

It's not how much we spend but how we spend our money. Spend wisely and we will challenge them next season.

Don't get me wrong I think we're 3 or 4 players short of challenging them at the moment. A striker and a defensive MF player are MUSTS for next season and the CB'S need t show better than they've been doing lately too

Edited April 5, 2016 by RANGERRAB

[Frankie 8,570]

Outwith the veracity of his figures, I don't really disagree with what he is saying. Celtic do indeed have a much bigger budget, but I don't think it'll require us to match it per se. There is a gulf in class, but I don't think it's as big as he suggests -- although he is one manager who'd know. I think Hearts have reverted to a more simple game. They played some nice stuff last year, but have since gone back to a game that simply seeks to match opponents for energy, strength, desire etc. If we can add that without having to sacrifice our philosophy, then we'll do alright IMO.

 

To be honest, I don't think we'll be competing with Celtic next year. I'd just like to see us get top 3, and to compete with Hearts and Aberdeen. Not what we want, of course, but I think that's a reasonable target for our first year back.

 

I think that's about as objective an analysis as you'll get.

 

Yes, of course we want to challenge Celtic but we don't want to overreach financially so we have to hope our work in the transfer market remains positive to keep such costs to a minimum. I don't think we need to multiply our wage budget to do that but money talks and if we do want to win the SPL again then there may have to be an element of risk somewhere along the line.

 

In many ways, next season might be the best chance of doing so as I'm expecting season ticket levels to be extremely high - though without European football (if we can't win the Scottish Cup) it may be difficult to attract the players we need. I'm hoping our style of football may help in that regard.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

We won it before with about 16 million wage bill. I suspect that's the bare minimum. Nielson isn't far wrong.

[der Berliner 3,747]

Much like we had in days gone by, the Yahoos have a first team squad of some 30odd players, and continued with that throughout our absence. They spent a fortune on wages with essentially only one good European run to show for it. They kept themselves in black figures by selling their assets to Southampton for ridiculous sums, and failed badly in most cup competitions. Is that a standard we look to emulate?

 

We'll know our wage bill at the end of the financial year and if W&W manage to deal as shrewdly as we did last summer and add t the unit of good players we already have, our wage bill might not top the 10m mark.

 

But to get to the topic again, how much does Aberdeen spend in wages? They chased the Scum all of the way ... and you wonder what Robbie has to say about that.