Kris Boyd tells Rangers they risk losing Mark Warburton
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The former Rangers striker – criticised by King as one of the senior pros who failed last season – says the Ibrox chairman has to deliver on transfer budget pledges or risk losing the management team.
Rangers were outbid by Leeds United for French midfielder Toumani Diagouraga, who played for Warburton at Brentford, while two offers have been rejected for St Johnstone’s Michael O’Halloran.
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Hide AdKilmarnock striker Boyd said: “When you’re faced with what they’re faced with at this moment in time – when you have a board or a chairman or whatever – trying to get people back onside by saying: ‘we will spend money, we will do this’ then go and back the manager.
“Everyone in Scottish football has been pleasantly surprised by the way that Mark Warburton and Davie Weir have gone about their business and the attractive football that they’ve brought back to Rangers. But, at the end of the day, if they come up this year and the two of them leave and go back down the road then I don’t think that the club can have any complaints.
“Ultimately, if you’re promising someone something and you don’t give it to them then why would you stay? It works both ways. The management have done their job with what they have. It’s now up to the club to go and back them and strengthen the squad.
“We’ve been reading things like: ‘We’ll spend £3-5 million in January so that we don’t need to spend when we go back up’. Well, go and do it.”
Boyd was one of a number of players criticised by King last season, but the veteran striker believes it was a cynical move to help sell season tickets.
He added: “When you look back to last summer, I can look at myself in the mirror and admit that I had been rubbish last season. Did I deserve to stay at Rangers? No, I didn’t. But what I will say is that, when you’re being promised this and promised that and trying to get everybody onside by having a go at us… forget us and back the manager.
“To be honest, I couldn’t give a toss what anyone has to say about me. But why hold a press conference on the Friday and then hold another on the Monday, before they even had a manager? I think, in between the two, their season tickets went on sale.”
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