Providing Graeme Murty blame over David Bates’ contract situation is the wrong way to approach things.
The Rangers Under-20 coach was today accused by Bates of lying about his departure. The Scottish centre-back signed for Hamburg on a pre-contract towards the end of last season.
Supporters at the time were furious at the move, and Murty stated Bates left for more money. Yet, Bates was on-hand today to dispel that idea, saying that a contract was never offered by Rangers.
This has led to much blame and accusatory pointers being sent in the way of Murty. It’s easy to look at him as the man behind it all, given he was the manager at the time.
It’s also unlikely that Bates is lying. Why would he? There’s absolutely nothing for him to gain by doing so. Therefore, you have to take his word for it.
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In essence, it probably is Murty that’s telling the fib. Why then should Rangers fans not point towards him angrily?
Don’t blame Murty
Well, who’s to say Murty didn’t know Bates wasn’t offered a new deal. The manager at Rangers doesn’t deal with contract situations, that’s down to the club and the player’s representatives.
It could be the case that the Rangers manager was told by the board that there had been a deal offered. The board could then have given the impression that Bates left because a better deal was on the table.
Look at it this way, what on earth could Murty have gained from coming out and lying? The truth was always going to come out, and he would’ve looked incredibly silly (like he is now).
The former Rangers manager could easily have come out and confirmed a contract hadn’t been offered. He probably would’ve done had he known that was probably the case.
Instead, it looks to as though the under-20s coach has been hung out to dry in this case. Bates clearly wasn’t offered a contract, yet it was obvious that Murty clearly liked him. He certainly played enough under him.
This all points to the money-men more than Murty. The upper echelons of the club could’ve been trying to save face after failing to bother with the deal.
As offers came in from the likes of Hamburg, Rangers perhaps didn’t value him as much as others. Therefore, a contract may not have been issued to the defender.
Regardless of who’s telling a lie and who’s to blame though, better clarity has to be made on things like this in the future.