Pressley departure signals McLaren deal

IAN PAUL

19 Oct 1994

RANGERS defender Steven Pressley is en route to Coventry City in a £500,000 deal and the odds are that this will pave the way for the transfer of Alan McLaren from Hearts to Ibrox in an arrangement that will probably include the return of Dave McPherson to Tynecastle.

Events moved swiftly yesterday once Phil Neal, manager of Coventry, decided that Pressley was the man he wanted and the under-21 internationalist is expected to complete his move south this morning.

At the same time, Rangers are likely to move fast to secure the signature of McLaren after failing to reach agreement about a player-swop-plus-cash deal a couple of weeks ago.

Now, it seems that a package, including McPherson and £1m, will be the type of arrangement which will satisfy the requirements of the Edinburgh club who already had turned down a £1m offer from Celtic.

With Craig Levein due to begin a 10-game suspension in a fortnight, Hearts manager Tommy McLean is not likely to encourage any deal that would leave him without some guarantee of an immediate replacement in such a crucial area of the team.

If McLaren does move to Ibrox he would be able to have a game against Motherwell under his belt before tackling his first Old Firm match a week on Sunday.

The man known, not with great originality, as Elvis has been at Ibrox for four years and had been suggested as the natural successor to Richard Gough but the signing of £2.7m Basile Boli from Marseille meant that he was relegated to the bench and he clearly felt that he needed to make quicker progress than might be possible at Ibrox.

He made 23 appearances for the top team last season and seemed on the verge of establishing a regular role.

However, the presence of Gough, Boli, John Brown, McPherson, and Craig Moore, meant that his options were limited.

Now, ironically, he leaves when Rangers are very thin in that area of the side, with Brown recovering from an operation, Gough out injured, and Boli -- who has just completed a one-match suspension -- doubtful because of a training injury.

Another Rangers-bred player, midfielder Sandy Robertson, is already at Coventry, having gone there for £400,000 last January because he, too, could not establish a regular first-team spot.

Dundee United midfield man Billy McKinlay, reputedly unhappy at Tannadice, is said to be the next possible target for the Ibrox manager.

Meanwhile, two of United's players could cause some embarrassment to the club tomorrow when they appear before the Scottish League appeals tribunal to protest about fines imposed on them by manager Ivan Golac.

Goalkeeper Alan Main and defender Gary Bollan have taken what is a rare route to have what they consider an injustice righted.

Main was fined two weeks' wages after what is understood to have been a row with the manager following the opening game of the season when United were beaten 5-0 by Hibs at Easter Road.

The bizarre part is that Main was not in goal that day.

He was substitute keeper to new man Henrik Jorgensen.

There is an unusual touch to Bollan's case as well, although he was one of the entire United team who was fined £100 for the mediocrity of their performance that day, a fine Golac also imposed upon himself.

But Bollan was only on the field as a replacement for Jerren Nixon in the last five minutes.

The appeals of the United men will be heard by the newly constituted tribunal which replaces the unwieldy system of the past, when all of the management committee took part.

This time only four of the five on duty will adjudicate .

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vice president Doug Smith will not participate as he is a director of Dundee United.

The others are: president Yule Craig of St Mirren, treasurer Donnie McIntyre of Ayr United, and representatives from Rangers, Campbell Ogilvie, and St Johnstone, Geoff Brown.

Taken from the Herald