Source: Team_Talk
Smith hopes for Rangers additions
Mendes is set to seal a move to Sporting Lisbon after both clubs agreed a fee, while Rothen's loan spell from Paris Saint Germain has come to an end.[LNB]Smith now faces a race against time to beat the deadline and recruit the personnel he feels can bolster the Scottish champions' hopes of retaining the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title.[LNB]"I would hope a little bit of money would be freed up but we will wait and see," he said.[LNB]"I won't take anyone unless it's someone I really feel can come in and make a difference for us.[LNB]"The one area that's causing us a little bit of a problem more than anything else is in the wider areas in the pitch.[LNB]"We've had to mess Steven Davis around, he has been playing in the middle and doing very well and we've asked him to go back to the wider areas.[LNB]"So that's an area where we could really be looking for someone to come in and bolster the squad."[LNB]Asked whether he had identified any targets, Smith replied: "It's not quite as simple as that because we had to get rid of a few before we could look so it's not really been possible to do that.[LNB]"It's just one of those situations that we are in. We can now at least have a look and, if it doesn't come to anything, we just carry on in the situation that we're in."[LNB]Several players - including Kris Boyd, Kirk Broadfoot, Nacho Novo and John Fleck - are in the process of negotiating new contracts, but Smith was unsure whether extra cash would be made available to boost offers which have already been made.[LNB]He said: "I don't do the negotiations with the players and none of them have come to any conclusion so far so we will just have to wait and see how that goes.[LNB]"Whether that level of money will be allocated to contracts, I'm not quite sure."[LNB]Rangers fans were assured at the club's AGM last month that Smith would not be under pressure to sell any players in January - a statement the manager felt was unwise to make.[LNB]Smith, who is not anticipating any other departures in the next few days, said: "I didn't think it was a good statement to make at the time, saying that we don't need to sell a player in the transfer window.[LNB]"Football is more complicated than that. It's not a matter of needing to sell, at times it's the player's wishes as well.[LNB]"If a player wants to go, that can happen. I don't think that statement should have been made when it was made because it gives the wrong impression.[LNB]"There are always going to be transfers and they are not all going to be financially-based decisions that are going to cause a player to leave the club."[LNB]Reflecting on Mendes' contribution to Rangers since his arrival from Portsmouth in August 2008, Smith said: "He has shown in his time here that he is an exceptionally good footballer and he played very well for us while he was here.[LNB]"He is one of those players who brought a good level of football to us which is always difficult in Scotland, where sometimes the game is a little more hectic than it is abroad.[LNB]"He adapted to that and, over the piece, was instrumental in helping us win the championship last season."[LNB][LNB][LNB] Rangers v Falkirk. Click here to bet.
