St Johnstone chairman Geoff Brown has told Rangers “we won’t be stood on” after turning down a bid from the Glasgow giants for star midfielder Murray Davidson.
Brown did not want to reveal the fee the Ibrox club offered for the Scotland under-21 international, but left no room for doubt that it was a good distance short of their own valuation of the former Livingston man.
Courier Sport understands the figure is around the £150,000 mark.
Brown was surprised that no-one from Rangers spoke to him directly instead choosing to lodge their bid by email from a club official.
He said, “The offer was not enough. Not even close.
“It seemed weird to me that it came through by email. I would have thought that the decent thing to do would be to phone me directly.
“Even by email I would have thought it would have come from Gordon Smith, but it didn’t.”
He added, “You don’t know whether another bid will come in but, as far as we’re concerned, Murray will only be going if they meet our valuation.”Proven performerOn Friday the Scottish champions will complete the purchase of Hearts left-back Lee Wallace for a reported £1.5m, and Brown drew an immediate comparison with their approach for Davidson to the pursuit of the Tynecastle man.
He said, “They started with a bid of £300,000 and eventually agreed £1.5m.
“I’m not saying that we’re expecting £1.5m for Murray but there is a minimum amount of money that a club like Rangers should be spending on a player like Murray.”
He added, “The fact that they’ve made a bid shows that they believe he’s of a Rangers standard.
“He’s a proven SPL player of two years and if he had been wearing a Rangers shirt last season I’m sure he would have been capped already.
“We won’t be unrealistic because we know how the market is just now, but we’re not mugs and we won’t be stood on.”
Ironically it is believed Hearts may also be in the hunt for Davidson now that they have Rangers’ cash in the bank.’Stepping stone’Saints kick off their season against Aberdeen on Saturday and Brown noted, “I certainly hope this doesn’t unsettle Murray.
“I am sure other clubs, perhaps in the Championship, will sit up and take notice of the interest from Rangers.
“We have made it clear that we won’t stand in the way of a player going on to a bigger stage.
“We can be a stepping stone, as has happened in the past, but the price has to be right for St Johnstone.”
He added, “Murray is an important player for us.
“He is strong and physical and losing him would pose us problems.
“Clearly Ally McCoist rates him and so does Craig Levein. Murray is also highly thought of here and we have given him a platform.
“I would like to think Murray will go on to bigger and better things. But any deal would have to suit the best interests of St Johnstone.”
Davidson has been a stand-out performer for Saints since arriving two years ago.