Rangers stiff signing for £75k

Good old Dave! Who says he’s tight with his money? After it was widely reported that Stephen Naismith had followed the growing trend of players donating a portion of their transfer payment to their old club – a very noble gesture – Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston has set the record straight: “It is not true that Steven gave us £75,000. We have not received a donation from him.

“It is true that he waived the fee, but that was to help Rangers meet the price we had asked.”

After losing out on Derek Riordan and David Murray’s brash claims about excessive spending at Ibrox, it is interesting to note that such relatively small sums seem to make such a difference. Perhaps Rangers really are that cash-strapped or perhaps more plausibly the “£1.9m” Rangers were reported to have paid (remember they were adamant they would not pay Kilmarnock's price) actually became £1.925m with Naismith’s contribution allowing Murray and his friends in the media to claim Rangers were not swayed by lowly Killie who had demanded £2m all along.

What a great start to a professional relationship when a young footballer is expected to use his own money to save face for Dave.