I will save my extensive comments on the matter when it is confirmed however make no mistake, this represents a very desperate move by the club to shore up some very difficult financial events. Only five points from first place, the ‘Gers would only sell the SPL’s top scorer if it was an absolute must to save their cash flow. Assuming the striker is moving and in lieu of Walter Smith’s stated goal of cutting ten names from the roster, there is no telling how deep the club will chip away at its starting lineup.

Pushing allegiances aside, this represents a very troubling situation within Scottish Football’s future when the leagues top scorer can be had for £3m while the club is in a championship run.

btw if you haven’t already, please visit the new Birmingham City blog. It’s great to see Birmingham represented so please stop by Stephen’s blog and say hello.

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” Birmingham have made an enquiry, we talked about money but we haven’t agreed a fee.”

The BBC equally noted that a spokesperson for <a href=” Birmingham“>Birmingham City said the offer was accepted and are “75% certain that Kris Boyd will be a Birmingham player by the end of the week.”

This would be the third of targeted ten reductions in Walter Smith’s roster.

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Walter Smith said of the deal:

“The clubs have agreed a fee for the player and Alan and his representatives have gone to speak to Wolves today.

“As long as they reach agreement, the move will be finalised in due course but they have to talk first.”

With the club slated to eliminate as many as ten slots from the roster there is considering “house cleaning” still left to do as this is only the second move, the first being Jean-Claude Darcheville’s to Ligue 1 side Valenciennes.

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If there was a drawback to the match, it was Kenny Miller’s childish reaction to being substituted with Chris Burke just past the hour. While possibly annoyed with being pulled from the match, his lack of control and storming off the pitch and into the tunnel requires explanation. With the club in a fight to regain lost points to Celtic, this type of conduct is not necessary and should be squashed.

The Rangers return to action in the Scottish Cup against St Johnstone on January 13.

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Following Hamilton Academical’s 2-0 upset of Aberdeen and Falkirk’s draw with Kilmarnock, Craig Brewster side are in dire need of points and will put up a hefty fight in front of their home fans. For the match his side, both sides are relatively healthy with the only absences Caley’s engaging striker Rory McAllister and the Rangers likely without Maurice Edu although they should have Steven Naismith back.

While the Inverness side might be having its problems, they cannot be overlooked. David Weir acknowledged the slight window of opportunity and said of the match:

“It’s true that there is not any margin for error for us now but perhaps that is a good thing.

“We all realise that we can’t drop any more points and we have to win every game.

“This is always the case when you are at Rangers anyway but even more so now.

“We’ve got to out and make things happen and only we can turn our current situation around.

“There is still a lot of football to be played this season and anything can happen but we have to improve, especially away from home.

“Everywhere is tough. In this league there no ground that you go to and get points easily. Steven Naismith

“Inverness has been one of the harder places to go in the past even though they are in need of a good result as well.

“We can take nothing for granted and all the players are aware that we need to play well to get all three points.”

However the clubs Sports director Hakan Mild has reaffirmed that the highly-sought after defender will not be loaned and the Rangers will need £2.5m to secure the Swedish international’s service stating to the Daily Express:

“We’re not interested in letting Mattias away on a loan deal.

“That has never even been up for discussion.”

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“I will not be playing for George Burley again, but I hope to be back in a Scotland jersey again one day.”

I will not be a morsel shy about this because I have not felt good about Kris Boyd since. Scoring goals is wonderful but when you turn your back on your nation, you have attempted to put yourself above your homeland and in my books of account are not worthy of the crest. That is likely to be a bit rough for some to accept but so be it.

As I said at the time I personally do not believe Kris Boyd is a “bad person” but instead a young man who made an extremely bad decision, does not have good mentors in situations such as these and did not think things through. And now this young man has a chance to grow up and represent his homeland and George Burley has provided him a glorious opportunity.

Speaking to the Scottish Sun, Mr. Burley said:

”Kris is his own man and he made his decision. That’s up to him.

”But, if he changes his mind, I am open. I am the manager of Scotland and my duty is to pick the best squad.

”Whether it is Kris Boyd, or whoever else who wants to play, if they are doing well and available, I will consider them.”

”What happened two months ago means nothing, I just move on to the next squad.

”I watch to see who is scoring and will pick the best person. It’s simple. Kris is playing regularly for his club and is getting goals. He is doing very well.”

Hopefully Kris Boyd will now take the opportunity, sincerely apologize Mr. Burley for his lack of respect and professional decorum and to the fans of Scotland and then embrace the greatest honour a professional can have and represent his nation.

“We have too many lads in the group who are not playing and they don’t like that, which means it’s not conducive to having a good squad.”

However, plans might need to be moved to the back-burner as Jean-Claude Darcheville’s move to Valenciennes is the only transfer that is on solid ground. Rumours of Nacho Novo move to Deportivo de La Coruña as well as situations involving Andrius Velicka and Charlie Adam have yet to materialize and could prove to be the undoing of future efforts.

With little surprise, adjectives such as “scrappy” can be used as the intensity was sky-high for this match. The “cat and mouse” talk of whether Kris Boyd would start was answered as expected as it was impossible for Walter Smith to keep his top goal-scorer out of the lineup. The Gers started with conviction and stepped up the pace during the opening forty-five minutes coming close to breaking the deadlock on a number of occasions but could not find the touch to beat their Celtic ‘keeper Artur Boruc. Attempts from Steven Davis early-on and Kenny Miller later tested the Polish capped ‘keeper Boruc but he was up to every challenge.

The second half opened with a spark but in continuance of the theme of being unable to finish properly, Kris Boyd missed his chance for heroics only a minute after the restart as Barry Ferguson had fed him a perfect through ball but his effort was easily saved. Finally the score-sheet was breached two minutes before the hour mark as Mark Wilson, who had entered the match for Andreas Hinkel at the break, sent a long-ball to Georgios Samaras in the box. The Greek international flicked the ball on to Scott McDonald who controlled the ball then turned on Kirk Broadfoot before powering the ball behind Allan McGregor and into the net. With Celtic claiming the 1-0 lead, the Rangers continued to press for the equalizer but couldn’t seem to muster the final touch on the sandy Ibrox pitch.

Hunting for more of an attacking force Walter Smith called upon on Kyle Lafferty for Charlie Adam at sixty-two minutes and Nacho Novo for Steven Whittaker with sixteen minutes remaining but neither could find a way through the hard-line Celtic defenders. While the Rangers controlled much of the ball possession for the balance of the match, it was in an unthreatening manner. Celtic came close to doubling the margin with five minutes remaining with Georgios Samaras close range header but it was scooped up by Allan McGregor. Finally with nary a closing effort the match wound down the Celtic victorious 1-0 over the Rangers.

The Rangers return to action next Sunday as they travel to Inverness to face Craig Brewster’s Caley Thistle.

In this match that defines far more that championship races, all Footballers will be pushing their bodies to the limits. On the injury front the Rangers will have Chris Burke, Maurice Edu and Kenny Miller ready although Madjid Bougherra will undergo a late fitness test. The cat and mouse commentary of whether Kris Boyd will be a part of his first match against Celtic since May 2007 has garnered a great deal of attention but it difficult to imagine that Walter Smith would keep his top scorer out for the match. He may have given a clue the Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller will be paired at striker by stating:

“It’s always difficult to leave Kris Boyd out of your team because he is a natural goalscorer.

On the opposite end of the pitch Gordon Strachan’s Celtic side looks to be fully fit with only Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink absent.

Please stop by after the match for a full wrap-up