Mark Warburton hits back at untrue claims over his shock Rangers exit...

[ian1964 10,724]

...and expresses hope true details will emerge.

 

MARK Warburton today broke his silence on his “shock” departure from Rangers and insisted none of the allegations which have been made about him since he left Ibrox last month are true.

 

Warburton was officially unveiled as the new manager of English Championship club Nottingham Forest at the City Ground yesterday – just five weeks after he left Glasgow in acrimonious circumstances.

 

Davie Weir and Frank McParland, who were his assistant manager and head of recruitment respectively during his spell in charge at Rangers, have also taken up positions at the East Midlands club.

 

The events which led to the Englishman’s exit from after a season and a half at the helm were bizarre and are currently the subject of a legal action that is being overseen by the League Managers Association.

 

Rangers claimed an agent acting on behalf of Warburton, Weir and McParland had jointly tendered their resignations in return for them waiving their right to compensation from any club they then joined.

 

However, the trio, who were informed via email late on a Friday night that their resignations had been accepted, have denied standing down and are pursuing the matter through the LMA.

 

Dave King, the Rangers chairman and major shareholder, then stated on the Ibrox club’s official website that confidential information from a board meeting had been leaked to the media.

 

King also revealed that he had been informed of rumours about the management team’s representative negotiating a move with English clubs earlier this season.

But Warburton, speaking about the affair publicly for the first time in an exclusive interview with SportTimes, has now hit back.

 

He is adamant that none of the claims which have been made about him since he moved on from Rangers are accurate and expressed hope his side of the story will come out in future.

 

“I kept my counsel through the events and the shock of the Friday night when I received an email, as did David and Frank,” he said. “I kept my counsel. “In the ensuing few days when the club, when Rangers, released a variety of statements I sought the advice of the LMA who have been outstanding in their support. “I issued my response through the LMA in my official statement and right now, I’m sure you can appreciate, there is a legal process under way and being followed. It wouldn’t be appropriate to make any comment above what was in my statement.”

 

“As I have said I have got a legal process. But what I can say is I have heard an awful lot of things that supposedly happened but none of them are true.

“From my point of view, I will follow the advice of the LMA who have been outstanding in their support. Let’s follow the process and when the time is right I am sure the details will emerge.”

 

Warburton, whose first game in charge of Forest is the East Midlands derby against their local rivals Derby County at the City Ground tomorrow, said the move to the two-time European Cup winners had happened suddenly.

 

Asked if he had expected to be back in management so quickly, he replied: “In truth, no. I didn’t expect to be here. It happened very, very quickly. “I was advised by many people to take months out of the game and reflect. I’m not that way inclined. It may suit some people. It doesn’t suit myself and David. But I was taking my time and spent some time at home. Literally, when it came it happened very, very quickly.”

 

Warburton added: “As and when the time is right, I’m sure that can change. But right now it is really important that we follow that legal process.

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/15163152.Exclusive__Mark_Warburton_hits_back_at_untrue_claims_over_his_shock_Rangers_exit_and_expresses_hope_true_details_will_emerge/

[Scott7 6,016]

I usually back Forest against the Rams but not tomorrow.

[ian1964 10,724]

"The Rangers fans know what I think of them - and 99 per cent of them would agree I was successful"

 

THE pain of his departure from Rangers is, despite his excitement about the new and considerable challenge which he now faces at Nottingham Forest, still raw.

 

His exit from Ibrox is also the subject of an ongoing legal action which promises to be, due to the downright peculiar circumstances under which he moved on, complex and protracted.

 

Yet, Mark Warburton is still, regardless of the highly contentious developments of recent weeks, able to look back on his spell in Glasgow with great affection and, for that matter, no small pride.

 

Yes, this term didn’t go exactly as he would have liked it to. The return to the top flight may not have gone as planned. The signings he made last summer have failed to make an impact or even feature. Performances and results have often been disappointing. The manner in which he moved on was highly unsatisfactory.

 

But as he was officially unveiled as the new manager of English Championship club Forest in the boardroom of the City Ground - where he was flanked by the two European Cup trophies won by his legendary countryman Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980 – Warburton reflected on his tenure in Glasgow with a touch of defiance.

 

The success which the former City of London trader savoured in his first term in Govan, during which he finally secured that elusive and lucrative promotion to the Ladbrokes Premiership and came within minutes of winning a unique domestic treble, is what sticks out in his mind, not recent events. “Please don’t take this in an arrogant way, it is far from it, but I think we went into a situation where we had nine players on our first day,” said Warburton. “We won the league by nine points, we got to the Scottish Cup final beating three Premiership teams, Kilmarnock, Dundee and Celtic, along the way, we won the Petrofac Training Cup as well and we were sitting second in the league when we left.

 

“From our point of view, Davie (his assistant Weir) and myself look will back very positively. We were privileged to be at that club and I think most would agree, 99 per cent of football fans would agree, that was a fairly successful time. But now we move on. Our focus now is absolutely on Nottingham Forest.”

 

Graeme Murty, the under-20 coach who was asked to take charge of first team affairs until a permanent replacement for Warburton was found, may have been in the dugout at Parkhead as Rangers drew 1-1 with Celtic on Sunday.

 

However, Warburton points out, after being questioned about the inability of , for a variety of reasons, so many of his summer signings to justify the outlay that it required to secure their services in recent months, that he brought in the majority of the players responsible for the result.

 

“We have had this discussion many, many, many times before up in Glasgow,” he said. “All I would say is if you look at the squad that drew last weekend, I think most of the signings we brought in very cheaply and they performed very well for the club.”

 

Indeed, Warburton, who has nine games to try and keep a Forest side which is fifth from bottom in the Championship, just two points above the relegation zone, in the second tier of English football, refused to rule out moving for any of his former Rangers players in the future.

 

“The biggest mistake you can make is to make wholesale changes,” he said. “Let’s give them the chance to show how good they can be. But the summer window is the summer window. Our job will be to bring the best value possible to Forest - wherever it comes from.”

 

Warurton was lauded as a hero and dubbed “The Magic Hat” by Rangers supporters as he finally led the Ibrox club into the Premiership last summer. He was rewarded with a pay rise and an extended contract after defeating Celtic on penalties in a classic William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final

 

This season, though, things haven’t gone quite so swimmingly. There has been disaffection in the stands about his signings, his tactics and his team’s displays. None of that, though, has diminished his gratitude to the followers of his former club. “The Rangers fans know what I think of them,” he said.

 

Warburton, the former Brentford manager, has just as big a job on his hands at Forest, possibly bigger, as he did when he took over a Rangers side in a state of some disarray nearly two years ago now. He is, after all, their fifth manager in two seasons.

 

The East Midlands club is beset by offield problems and performing poorly on it. Fawak Al Hasawi, the Kuwaiti chairman, is in talks to sell a controlling stage to Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Olympaikos. The future is highly uncertain.

 

The new man at the helm, however, feels that his experiences in Glasgow will be hugely beneficial in his new role. Asked if he was a better manager now than when he took over at Rangers, Warburton replied: “Absolutely. I think any job that you go into, forget football, any job that you go into, you’d like to think that you’re better for the experience, that you’ve learned from the experience. “I’ve no doubt that I’m a better manager, David Weir as well. I think we are better for the experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Glasgow and now I am delighted to be here at Nottingham Forest.”

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/15163154.Mark_Warburton_exclusive___The_Rangers_fans_know_what_I_think_of_them___and_99_per_cent_of_them_would_agree_I_was_successful_/

[Uilleam 5,948]

Money grubbing is always unbecoming.

[der Berliner 3,747]

There is that simple fact that the threesome apparently enabled their agent to talk about their exit from the club. This chap obviously fumbled a bit and it went sour when we accepted the resignation he forwarded. So if they want to go after someone, try the agent first. They instructed him to do business or he got ahead of them "a little". All their concern.

Edited March 17, 2017 by der Berliner

[jhunter 0]

he's talking absolute shit

[SteveC 150]

he's talking absolute shit

 

That may be the case but we have to thank the three amigos for willingly battling for one of our members. A thread title on FF reads:

 

"Warburton Wier and McParland to continue fight for compo."

[BrahimHemdani 1]

There is nothing knew here.

 

We thank them for their services, albeit this season was less than satisfactory and the manner of their departure was unfortunate to say the least.

 

Nonetheless I see no reason to do anything other than wish them every success in the future.

 

We can now focus on a bright future for Rangers "Under New Management".

Edited March 17, 2017 by BrahimHemdani

[boabie 230]

Yes Mark, and the whole world except you knew weeks ago that you were going to Notts.

I'll repeat - lying bassa.

F off.

[Gribz 850]

If there is a case ongoing and he thinks it lies then he obviously thinks he should still be an employee of Rangers - therefore why has he taken up new employment.