Derek Johnstone sheds some light on Warburton situation with Rangers
By Harvey Byrne
Former Rangers striker Derek Johnstone has moved to shed some light on the situation regarding the club and Mark Warburton
Rangers shared on their official Twitter account on Friday that they had accepted a resignation from the boss as well as David Weir and Frank McParland alongside a club statement which shared that Graeme Murty would take charge on Sunday.
However, the BBC originally reported that Warburton was unaware of any statement and that he would be consulting his legal team on the matter.
This left a number of supporters understandably confused, but Johnstone, who was part of the club for 14 years believes Warburton’s agent asked if he could be released with a potential new club on the horizon.
“I believe the agent spoke with Rangers at the start of the week and asked if they could be released from their contracts,” told Johnstone, as quoted by the Sky Sports website.
“I think Rangers were astounded by that but eventually agreed and said yes. As far as I’m concerned, if you come out and say that to the Rangers board, it means you don’t to be there.
“The club were quite within their rights to say: ‘Fine, if you don’t want to be here you’re released.’
“It was a resignation from the manager and David Weir but I think something else has happened because the agent felt he probably had another club for them.
“Whether that’s fallen through or not – and then Mark has changed his mind – we don’t know at this stage.”
Also included in the BBC report was that Warburton had recently held contact with Championship side Nottingham Forest, who have since decided to leave Gary Brazil in charge until the end of the season.
Warburton’s attempts to switch clubs could have provoked a negative reaction from the Ibrox giants, who had decided they wanted rid of the manager without paying him off due to worries about his loyalty.
Rangers certainly would not be the first club to have done so, but fans will be hoping there is a swift end to all of the speculation and that it soon becomes clear.
In other Rangers news, here is how Gers supporters reacted to all the drama.
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