“Personal terms were all agreed but the player just made a decision to keep his family in Manchester”.
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Lescott looked set to become the tenth arrival of the summer at Ibrox this week but the transfer was cancelled at the eleventh hour on Friday.
Warburton insists the former England centre-back chose not to sign because he did not want to uproot his young family.
He passed a medical and agreed personal terms at Rangers but complications arose soon after.
“It’s absolute nonsense to say anything other than that”, he added.
The prospective deal has also been helped by the fact that Villa have agreed to cover part of his salary for the year left on his contract.
“It’s a big decision on the player’s part and we understand that”. I read that in the papers as well. “If we can do that and sign players of the right calibre, then it’s nearly self-fulfilling”.
He said: “Our first half performance wasn’t acceptable but we were much better in the second half”. “We are just making progress on a number of fronts”, he said.
‘Philippe came in and trained with us all week.
“Philippe has been first-class though”.
Gers claimed their second victory of the new Ladbrokes Premiership campaign to remain top of the table after Kenny Miller’s stoppage-time victor. But Harry Forrester swept home the equaliser midway through the second half.
Rangers fans, and most likely Warburton, will now like to move on. “If we can get that right, then we have a chance”.
The late goal was a sickener for Motherwell but boss Mark McGhee was looking on the bright side.
Asked how hard the defeat was to accept, he replied: “It’s easy to take it”.
“We can’t compete when it comes down to straight cash, but with players of experience and players of quality it’s not always about a straight cash deal”.
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“The boys can hold their heads high. I think he will be available for Celtic absolutely, whether he will be available for Kilmarnock, I don’t know”.
