RANGERS players have still to hear whether their offer of a wage deferral to save jobs has been accepted by administrators Duff and Phelps.
Another stressful day passed without any announcement being made on probable redundancies at Ibrox and Murray Park yesterday. It is thought it will be tomorrow or even Friday – when senior players should be back from international duty – before staff are given any news.
Sasa Papac last night admitted he felt more expendable than most because he is out of contract in May, but the players have still to hear anything. Joint administrator Paul Clark held further talks with manager Ally McCoist yesterday but there is still huge doubt over the future of nearly every job among the club's 175 staff.
The players offered to accept a collective deferral of part of their wages on the condition that none of them are laid off. If Clark and his colleague David Whitehouse do not accept that, there is no fall-back offer of some redundancies and the rest taking a deferral.
No percentage pay cut has been discussed, but Clark and Whitehouse have the offer on the table. Today is the last day for which all Rangers staff have been paid in advance, and from tomorrow the club must dig into any remaining funds to pay wages on a day-by-day basis.
Papac has been at Ibrox for six years and was in no doubt about how vulnerable he and other senior players had become. He is on international duty with Bosnia this week and the absence of several players is a factor in the timing of the expected announcement on redundancies. Steven Davis, Allan McGregor, Carlos Bocanegra and Dorin Goain are also away representing their countries. Duff and Phelps would prefer to delay any announcements until all staff are back.
"It has been just unbelievable, but it shows that bankruptcy can happen to any club," said Papac. "Right now, we continue to play football, but in this situation, it is hard to go out and play. We simply have to continue and see what will be done by the administrators. They are the ones who have all the power and we must wait to see what happens. Their job is to clear Rangers' financial debts, which means that the club could lose a lot of players because they are well paid.
"Any one of the players could go now for the good of the club's financial health. I know now I have no chance of getting another contract offer, or at least certainly not one at my existing level. All I can do is try to ignore the situation because no-one has told me what the exact position is."
That was echoed by Goian, who is in Romania for their friendly with Uruguay. "To be honest, I do not know what the situation is with Rangers," said the defender. "Many decisions have to be taken in the near future, so I have no idea what to think just now. As for my future, that is unclear.
"The reason I want to stay in Glasgow is because I have two young children and it would be very difficult to move the entire family twice in the one year. It's a worrying situation for me."
Meanwhile, if Rangers continue without going into liquidation, they have until midnight on Friday, August 3, to come out of administration before being hit with another 10-point penalty in next season's Scottish Premier League. The new season starts the following day.
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