Mark Warburton labels Tony Xia's claim over Joleon Lescott deal as 'absolute nonsense

[ian1964 10,613]

THE Ibrox boss was far from pleased with comments made by the English Championship side's head honcho.

 

RANGERS boss Mark Warburton has fired back at Aston Villa chairman Tony Xia over the Joleon Lescott transfer saga.

 

The Ibrox boss was far from pleased with comments made by the English Championship side's head honcho over the deal for the former Manchester City defender.

 

Xia stated that Lescott failed to agree personal terms but Warburton hit back saying the deal was scuppered due to family reasons.

 

It is believed that uprooting his young family from Manchester was the stumbling block to the deal and the reason the former England didn't sign on at Rangers .

 

Speaking after his side's 2-1 win over Motherwell at Ibrox, Warburton said Xia's claim was "absolute nonsense".

 

He said: "Let me be really clear about this - it's absolute nonsense.

 

"Personal terms were all agreed but the player just decided to keep his family in Manchester. He's well settled with three young children.

 

"It's absolute nonsense to say anything other than that.

 

"The fact he's up here tells you that terms were agreed and there wasn't a problem with that.

 

"It's a big decision on the player's part and we understand that. But it's nothing to do with what I've read in the papers.

 

"We know what happened, the player knows what happened. To take your three young kids out of school is a big call on his part and we respect it. It's unfortunate but we wish him all the best."

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-boss-mark-warburton-labels-8672747

[trublusince1982 243]

It's no surprise by now but it's still nice to see MW act with class in situations like this.He gets bags of respect for his manner it suits us to the ground

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

Strange as he was playing for villa last year... Which is further from Manchester than Glasgow

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Strange as he was playing for villa last year... Which is further from Manchester than Glasgow

Well that's simply not true

[Crimson Dynamo 128]

So he didn't fail a medical then?

[trublusince1982 243]

It's obvious MW is being professional and not saying he failed the medical. It's called class

[RANGERRAB 3,456]

Let's see if Sunderland renew their interest. I suspect they won't

[cooponthewing 1,139]

Strange as he was playing for villa last year... Which is further from Manchester than Glasgow

 

2hrs Manchester-Birmingham

3.5hrs Manchester-Glasgow

 

I'm not sure the distance made a difference? Maybe the guy just genuinely got cold feet at the last minute, It happens, a lot.

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

Well that's simply not true

 

Yeah - I was thinking Bristol (roughly the same) silly me

[JFK-1 1,691]

Strange as he was playing for villa last year... Which is further from Manchester than Glasgow

 

Glasgow is comfortably more than twice the distance from Manchester Birmingham is. Can drive from Manchester to Birmingham in around an hour and 15 minutes or so while Manchester to Glasgow would be about three and a half hours.