Rangers in for Whittaker

[Gazza_8 233]

Taken from The Evening Times website.....

 

From Evening Times

 

RANGERS have begun moves to bring Hibs star Steven Whittaker to Ibrox in a �£1.8m deal.

 

SportTimes understands boss Walter Smith - who today closed in on �£2.5m Osasuna defender Carlos Cuellar after he flew in to Glasgow - wants Whittaker to bolster his options on the right side.

 

Rangers switched their attention to the 23-year-old after their move for Bordeaux's French midfielder Julien Faubert collapsed last weekend over his �£6m-plus fee.

 

Whittaker is currently in Austria with John Collins' Hibs squad at their pre-season training camp.

 

advertisementBut it is believed a deal will be struck for the player, who has watched pals like Scott Brown, Derek Riordan, Kevin Thomson, Ian Murray and Gary Caldwell all move to the Old Firm in the past couple of years.

 

Hibs denied last month that they had agreed a deal to sell the player to Rangers, but moves are going on behind the scenes and the player is keen to make the switch.

 

Birmingham City, Bolton, Middlesbrough and Celtic have all been impressed with Whittaker's progress in the past couple of seasons, but Rangers now hope to land him.

 

Smith needs competition in the right back area with Alan Hutton the only recognised player for that position.

 

The 6ft 1in Whittaker has also excelled in a right-midfield role, and his versatility means he can also operate in central defence as well.

 

I'd take him in a second. Great player.

[Whosthedado 1,680]

What I don't get is how come we're 'splashing' out on Whittaker and Cuellar, but weren't willing to spend the money on Naismith? WS must reckon RB and CB were bigger priorities.

Would be a good signing though and good competition for Hutton

[ascender 352]

Would improve our squad and give us more options. But then if we're going for him, surely we'd be able to sort out some dough for Naismith too?

[pete 2,499]

Would improve our squad and give us more options. But then if we're going for him, surely we'd be able to sort out some dough for Naismith too?

 

Yes but if you have to pay 2 mill there may be other players in that price class who appeal more than Naismith. Rangers thought he was a 1 mill player who was possibly our best bet in that price range.

[ian1964 10,720]

He will prove to be a great sgining, IF WE GET HIM,although he will be looked on as cover for AH,which is correct,but he can play along with AH.Without getting excited i think things are taking shape,but i'm looking for a couple of more signings,maybe i'm expecting too much !!!!!!

[Gribz 850]

1.8 million

 

Id rather go for someone out of the SPL. Players like this wont improve us. We should have a better set of players than Hibs. If a Hibs player is coming to us and getting in the first team than says we are average.

[Gazza_8 233]

1.8 million

 

Id rather go for someone out of the SPL. Players like this wont improve us. We should have a better set of players than Hibs. If a Hibs player is coming to us and getting in the first team than says we are average.

 

We signed Andy Goram from Hibs and Celtic signed John COllins from Hibs, 2 quality players who got into the 1st teams easily.

[ascender 352]

1.8 million

 

Id rather go for someone out of the SPL. Players like this wont improve us. We should have a better set of players than Hibs. If a Hibs player is coming to us and getting in the first team than says we are average.

 

Do you not think though that's part of the problem, that we have been very average over the last few years? Whittaker seems to have been a better right sided player than Burke, Novo or Sionko for example.

 

Was this not how the transfer market used to work in Scotland before the influx of foreigners, where we'd often sign up the better players from other Scottish clubs?

 

As for the guy himself, he is very highly rated and can go forward as well as covering back, so that combination might work well with him and Hutton.

[Gribz 850]

We signed Andy Goram from Hibs and Celtic signed John COllins from Hibs, 2 quality players who got into the 1st teams easily.

But as Ive said on many occassions the standard of player in Scotland has dropped dramatically in the last 2 decades. We signed Goram in 1991.

 

Also the other point ive said on many occassions is its ok taking 1 or 2 of the better SPL players but not fill a team with them. This isnt a personal attack on Whittaker as I dont know much about him but I just dont see Rangers progressing with a team including Naismith, Boyd, Whittaker, Thomson, Gow, Broadfoot, Murray etc.

 

It should be us breeding better youngsters with Murray Park.

[stewarty 2,010]

But as Ive said on many occassions the standard of player in Scotland has dropped dramatically in the last 2 decades. We signed Goram in 1991.

 

Also the other point ive said on many occassions is its ok taking 1 or 2 of the better SPL players but not fill a team with them. This isnt a personal attack on Whittaker as I dont know much about him but I just dont see Rangers progressing with a team including Naismith, Boyd, Whittaker, Thomson, Gow, Broadfoot, Murray etc.

 

It should be us breeding better youngsters with Murray Park.

 

That takes patience and time. We're seeing some good prospects at u-16 through to u-19 level and lets not forget that hutton, smith, mcgregor & adam (all first team squad) are products of MP too.