HIBERNIAN manager Alan Stubbs stressed last night that Rangers signing target Scott Allan is not for sale after receiving assurances from the Easter Road board over their stance on the player.
Stubbs left Allan, who was the subject of two failed bids of £175,000 and £225,000 from the Ibrox club last week, out of his starting line-up for the Petrofac Training Cup first-round match in the capital yesterday.
The central midfielder only came on as a substitute in the second half of a thrilling encounter which the Edinburgh club lost 6-2.
Stubbs admitted mounting speculation over the future of Allan, who is out of contract at the end of the season, prompted him to omit the Championship’s Player of the Year. He also declined to dismiss speculation that he is close to completing moves for two players who feature in the same position as Allan – John McGinn and Rhys McCabe.
However, the Englishman reiterated what Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster said in an official club statement in midweek, that the 23-year-old would be remaining at Easter Road.
“Probably the best way to settle this is that I’ll answer one question on Scott Allan,” Stubbs said after the game. “It’s three words – not for sale. I’m not going to keep answering questions on it. So this is to put it to bed here and now. We will be adding to the squad, there will not be anyone leaving it.
“I have spoken to Mark [Rangers manager Warburton]. It was a very respectful conversation, end of story. That’s football. It’s part and parcel of football, it happens. But you have to respect a club’s stance when they say a player is not for sale. My dialogue with Rod [chairman Petrie] and Leeann has been very clear from the outset. We didn’t need much dialogue, though, we only needed one bit of dialogue.”
Stubbs, who insisted the heavy defeat his side suffered yesterday would have no bearing on how Hibs fared in the Championship in the season ahead, admitted contact had been made with former St Mirren player McGinn.
“We will see what happens over the next few days,” he said. “We have spoken to John McGinn. That’s all I can say about that at this moment.”
Stubbs revealed Allan, who is believed to be keen on a move to a club he grew up supporting as a boy, had accepted his reasons for being excluded from the Hibs starting line-up.
“I spoke to Scott before the game. I have a huge amount of respect for Scott and I think if you ask him he has a huge amount of respect for me,” Stubbs said. “I don’t think it would have been right for me to put Scott in the game today with what has been going on, the circus of the past few days.
“He is a professional footballer and a human being and it would have affected him.
“The most important thing today was the team and the club. I said to Scotty that I was doing it for him and the club. I’m not going to fall out with Scotty, far from it. It’s a situation the club has dealt with and we’ve drawn a line under it.”
Warburton, who got his career as Rangers manager under way with an emphatic win in his first competitive game in charge, once again declined to discuss his interest in the Hibs player. Despite his side beating opponents who have been widely tipped to be their main rivals for the Championship this season by four goals away from home, he was far from impressed by their overall display.
“We’ve an honest group. You can’t pat them on back and say that was tremendous, well done. They know that was below the level required and that’s great,” he said. “The work ethic has been very evident, so has the harmony and so has their honesty. They knew that was a four out of 10.
“The squad is getting stronger and starting to gel, but it’s very early days yet and hopefully that bodes well for the future.
“The second half is absolutely what you can expect from us. You’ve got to be positive, forward thinking, hungry for the ball and dominate the ball.
“It’s important trying to play a certain way, it’s about self-belief. We weren’t at the right level in the first half but the positive is the way we came out second half.”
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