MARK Warburton received assurances from Rangers directors about the financial position of the Ibrox club and the size of the transfer budget which will be made available to him before agreeing to become their manager.

 

Warburton was unveiled as the new full-time manager of Rangers along with David Weir, the former club captain and centre half who will serve as his assistant, after signing a three-year contract yesterday.

The 52-year-old led Brentford to promotion from League One last year and to fifth place and a play-off spot in the Championship in the season which has just ended before parting company with the Griffin Park club.

Despite his inexperience - the former youth coach and sporting director has only been a manager for less than 18 months and has taken charge of fewer than 80 games of senior football - the Englishman's appointment has been well received by supporters.

He is highly-regarded in his homeland as a result of his achievements on a limited budget in the second tier and had attracted interest from other clubs down south following the end of the 2014/15 campaign.

Rangers continue to operate at a significant monthly loss and have needed to secure loans totalling £8 million from shareholders Mike Ashley, The Three Bears consortium and Dave King since January for working capital purposes.

Warburton, who worked as a city trader in London after failing to make it as a professional footballer with Leicester City in the late 1970s, confirmed he had sought guarantees over the Glasgow club's off-field stability and the money which would be made available to him.

"There have been some challenges at the club, for sure," he said. "Davie Weir has kept me updated. So I'm well aware of it. I think any football supporter is aware of it.

"They are the questions we asked when we met with the club. We had to ask the right questions - and we got the answers we wanted to there.

'We got positive responses to the questions we asked. Of course those conversations are very private. But if we hadn't got the assurances, it wouldn't be right for us to take a job that we thought was inappropriate.

"Managers and coaches have to ask the right questions too. Sometimes you have managers who are out of work for two or three months and are desperate to get back in again. Maybe they are wary of asking the right questions.

"But I think you have to ask what the expectations of the club are, what sort of support are we going to receive, what are the timescales, what are the short, medium and longer term targets?

"If you ask the right questions and get the right answers, you must be excited by it. I got very positive answers about the ambition of the club. That was very clear, as was the passion behind the club. There is a desire to take the club back to where it was before. That shone through in all the conversations we had."

Asked if he and Weir had been told how much money would be made available to them to rebuild a Rangers squad which has lost 12 players this summer, Warburton said: "Yes, absolutely, or else we wouldn't have taken the opportunity."

Warburton admitted moving from Brentford, whose average home attendance in the Championship in England last season was only 10,821, to Rangers would be a huge jump up for him in terms of the pressure he would be under and the public scrutiny he would be subjected to.

However, he is confident he can help to resurrect the on and off-field fortunes of the Ibrox club by putting together a side which plays attractive football and can win promotion back to the top flight of Scottish football.

"I'd be lying if I told you I'm prepared for the goldfish bowl, as everyone is calling it," he said. "This is a new environment for me. But David Weir is a fantastic man to have alongside me and I'll pick his brains every single day.

"This is obviously a leap for us. This is my first time at Ibrox and I'm not going to disrespect the size of the task ahead of us. But you've got to relish this. You can crumble under it and fear it - or you can absolutely embrace it. That's what I intend to do.

"Our job is to produce a team that excites the fans. That drives the commercial side of the club and brings health to the whole community. But it's about how Rangers Football Club sets itself up going forward, lays strong foundations for a very, very strong future."

Asked what he thought about the prospect of managing Rangers against their Old Firm rivals Celtic at some stage in the future, Warburton said: "I'm looking forward to that very much, hopefully"