Mark Warburton explains to Matt Hughes why his team should be in a Super League

[ian1964 10,613]

‘Broadcasters would rather show Rangers v Arsenal than Leicester’

Before Sunday’s Old Firm tie, Mark Warburton explains to Matt Hughes why his team should be in a Super League

 

Matt Hughes | Deputy Football Correspondent

April 15 2016, 1:01am,

The Times

 

Warburton’s Rangers face arch-rivals Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals on Sunday

CRAIG WILLIAMSON/SNS GROUP

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At the end of a season spent trekking to such modest venues as Alloa and Livingston, Mark Warburton can be forgiven for relishing a taste of the big time.

 

The Rangers manager will enjoy a flavour of how the other half live when he faces Celtic for the first time in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday, but leading his club to a first Old Firm victory in four years after ending their exile from the Scottish Premier League does not represent the summit of his ambitions.

 

I’d like to work in the Premier League one day, but I’m sure I’m still seen as a risk

Having narrowly failed to win promotion to the English Premier League with Brentford last season Warburton’s aim is to take Rangers into the Europa League, the Champions League and even a possible future European Super League.

 

Warburton is speaking as the hard-headed financial analyst who enjoyed a successful career as a City trader before embarking on an extraordinary career change when he describes a Super League as inevitable, a somewhat ironic standpoint given he was sacked by Brentford at the end of last season because of his supposed reluctance to accept innovation.

 

On the contrary, Warburton’s position as an outsider has often led him to look at things differently, such as when he set up the NextGen Series, a European under-19 tournament, in 2011, and he argues a pan-European league would have advantages, particularly for clubs such as Rangers and Celtic, who have been left trailing in the English Premier League’s wake. Whatever its merits Warburton is convinced that the globalisation of sport and an increasingly competitive TV rights market make it a certainty.

 

“One of the things I learnt in the City is that if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is,” Warburton says. “If a stock is too cheap then its price will inevitably rise. The market always corrects, and the same applies in football.

 

“If Bournemouth are competing with Bayern Munich for players it tells me that the market is skewed, and that a European Super League cannot be far away. The big European clubs won’t want to be left behind by smaller ones in England and if you’re a broadcaster, which game would you rather show: Norwich v Leicester or Arsenal v Rangers?

 

“Sky Sports and BT are relatively small players in global terms, but if Google or Amazon bought the rights and started streaming games to billions of people around the world they would want a guarantee of the biggest clubs. It may not feel right, but if Leicester, Tottenham and West Ham end up in the Champions League next season I think there could be ramifications even sooner.

 

Waghorn has been a shrewd signing for Rangers, but Warburton will need more financial support in the Scottish top flight

GRAHAM STUART/REUTERS

“The challenge for Rangers is to make sure we’re part of that conversation when it happens. We’re never going to join the [English] Premier League, but a European League could be a possibility. People say it would be a disaster for Scottish football if Rangers or Celtic left, but we’ve had five years of Celtic winning the league. It would present an opportunity for others.”

 

Warburton has enjoyed his first season in Glasgow, which is hardly surprising given Rangers won the Scottish Championship with four matches to spare and his win ratio in all competitions is at more than 80 per cent, but he is also willing to cast a critical eye around its varied landscape. While accepting that some financial limitations are inevitable, the 53-year-old argues that structural changes could be made to improve Scottish football, particularly regarding the fixture list, youth development and the quality of pitches.

 

“There are some really good people working up here, but there’s no money,” Warburton says. “And while people use finances as an excuse the big problem in Scotland is the quality of the product. It’s not attractive. You should see some of the pitches we get up here.

 

“If you turn on the TV to watch Leicester v Norwich you see a sell-out crowd, a magnificent surface and a great product. And then you see some of the Scottish games on an artificial surface or a really poor grass pitch in front of empty stands. The best pitch in the country is at Murrayfield, a rugby stadium!

 

“The quality of the product isn’t there and we have to find a way of improving it. The fixture list is a mess. We’ll have played Hibs seven times by the end of the season. It’s nonsense.

 

“They should increase the SPL to 16 teams, play each other home and away and look at setting up a new competition. NextGen showed that can be done. There might be some short-term pain, but in the long term the quality would improve. We have to improve the product, which will lead to increased investment in Scottish football.”

 

Warburton’s primary concern of course is Rangers, for whom he is similarly ambitious. Despite Celtic’s turnover for the year ending June 2015 being more than three times greater than their rivals at £51 million, Warburton makes no attempt to play down expectations for next season, saying that winning Rangers’ first top-flight title since 2011 is his only target.

 

It sounds absurd if you come from down south, but if Rangers played Barcelona tomorrow the fans might take a draw

Having started work with just nine players at the start of the season he has transformed the squad by making shrewd signings on a pittance, such as Martyn Waghorn, the forward, and James Tavernier, the defender, both from Wigan, and Wes Foderingham, the goalkeeper, from Swindon Town, but will need more financial support in the top flight. “Next year there’s only one aim,” Warburton says. “Second is last as far as many Rangers fans are concerned. All the players know that and they won’t be satisfied with second either. We have to close the gap.

 

“We’re expected to win every game so every game is a cup final here. It sounds absurd if you come from down south, but if Rangers played Barcelona tomorrow the fans might take a draw.

 

“They’ve been brought up on a history of winning 54 trophies. [Assistant manager] David Weir played in the Uefa Cup final [against Zenit St Petersburg in 2008] when the fans took over Manchester. That’s what they’re brought up on and we have to restore the club to that level.”

 

Ironically the only let-up in Warburton’s relentless ambition is Sunday’s fixture, which he regards as a bonus, even though the reward of a Europa League place for winning the competition is a huge incentive. He is also modest about his credentials, despite having a career win percentage of 65 per cent, which if maintained will surely lead to attractive job offers from England before too long.

 

“Sunday is nice to have, but August 6 is when it really matters,” Warburton says. “Our job is to close the gap to Celtic before the start of next season.

 

“I’d like to work in the Premier League one day, but I’m sure I’m still seen as a risk. I’m grateful to Rangers for taking a chance on me as there are far more experienced managers around than me. Look at someone like Nigel Pearson and what he’s achieved in the game. I’ve not done that. I’ve got to prove that I can get a team into Europe and can compete at that level.”

 

It is to Warburton’s credit that Rangers are just two wins away from having that opportunity.

 

The Blue Cafu

 

James Tavernier, the free-scoring full back nicknamed The Blue Cafu, is targeting a club record when Rangers take on Celtic on Sunday.

 

The pick of Tavernier’s goals so far was a stunning volley in the Challenge Cup final win against Peterhead last Sunday

IAN MACNICOL/GETTY IMAGES

The 24-year-old English right back, who joined Rangers from Wigan last summer, has already scored 14 times this season, matching the record set by club legends John Greig (1967-68) and Sandy Jardine (1974-75). The pick of his goals so far was a stunning volley in the Challenge Cup final win against Peterhead last Sunday.

 

Tavernier was at Newcastle for five years but played just two league games and spent much of that time on loan at lower league clubs before joining Wigan in 2014. He was on loan at Bristol City last season before his successful move north of the border.

 

44 Games in all competitions

14 Goals

18 Assists

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/broadcasters-would-rather-show-rangers-v-arsenal-than-leicester-qvnh0gb30

Edited April 15, 2016 by ian1964

[Rousseau 10,019]

Someone in charge with half of Warburton's guts and intelligence and we'd be in a much better situation. For many, the answers are obvious, but for some reason the individuals that matter are reluctant to change. It's really quite sad.

[colinstein 294]

who calls Tavernier "the blue cafu" ?

[calscot 0]

Some strange things said in that interview...

 

He seems to say people make use finances as an excuse but then says the product is poor due to the pitches - good pitches cost money.

 

He also says we'll have played Hibs seven times by the end of the season - IF on the off chance, we meet them in the cup final, I count that as six, otherwise five.

 

I also see Tottenham as a reasonably big club of a level where you would expect them in Europe quite often as say the fourth placed team. He seems to be arguing the game would be better if it was always the same four or five teams that qualified - say Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, with the new, artificial anomaly of Man City butting in.

 

A straight 16 team league obviously would not improve the game or it's attractiveness in Scotland without some jiggery pokery, that one seems a bit naive and not so clever.

 

Not particularly impressed with much in that interview, but think many will see it as gospel...

[pete 2,499]

The biggest improvement to be made in Scotland is at grass root and youth level. You have to build a pyramid on a strong base at the bottom and not upside down on it's point