David Murray, the Rangers chairman, indicated before the opening of the transfer window that McLeish would be allowed to invest heavily, with a figure of £5m mentioned, but Boyd’s £400,000 arrival from Rugby Park is the only deal done as yet. “That’s going to come back and haunt him, isn’t it?” said McLeish, of Murray’s pledge. “Hopefully we can still bring somebody in before the end of January within the club’s financial constraints, but I’ve not got a magic wand that I can enhance the team for the prices that we can afford.”
McLeish highlighted that Villarreal, Rangers’ European opponents in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League, are “talking about £8-10m for a couple of players” in a clear hint some extra cash of his own would not go amiss. “That’s the level we’re faced with in the last 16,” he added. “I’ve given the board a few names, but if we’re not in the financial position to get exactly who I want, I won’t do it. Villarreal are favourites for the tie when you make the comparison between what they can do and what we can do.”
Yesterday’s victory, on McLeish’s 47th birthday, showed again the range of attacking options suddenly at his disposal. “I must say it’s terrific the quality we have up front now,” he enthused. “Kris got two and Dado got two, which means Nacho Novo and Peter Lovenkrands will be jealous. I know how strikers are.”
Hearts must now be looking over their shoulders at Rangers and third-placed Hibs, visitors to Tynecastle next Saturday trailing their city rivals by six points after a 3-1 win at home to Dunfermline, rather than up toward Celtic, who can go 10 points clear of them with a win at Motherwell today. Head coach Graham Rix was unhappy with a lethargic performance from his side in their narrow defeat by Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. To add to his woes, the recently-returned Neil McCann limped off after 24 minutes of his second debut for the club, having sustained a knee injury.
“We were not at the races, especially in the first half,” admitted Rix. “Even before Neil went off, we just were not there today. The players have to realise they are a big scalp, people want to beat them and they have to handle that. There’s still a lot to play for. We are second in the league and in the Scottish Cup, but any more performances like that and the season could be thrown away.”