Derek McInnes is confident Rangers have successfully fended off Besiktas' cheeky bid to borrow Nico Raskin on a try-before-you-buy deal. Rangers' preparations for their trip to Falkirk were disrupted when the Turkish giants lodged an offering comprising a loan with a £12million option for the Belgian World Cup star. But it was given short shift by both Ibrox chiefs and Raskin himself after being swiftly rejected.
Second bid rejected
However, it seems Besiktas are refusing to give up the chase, with reports in Istanbul claiming they'd seen a second bid turfed out while McInnes' team were edging to a 2-1 win over the Bairns. And with the Turkish transfer window open until Friday, they could yet try again. But McInnes - who handed Raskin a surprise starter against John McGlynn's side - is hopeful he is going nowhere.
Asked if the 25-year-old may have played his last game in a blue jersey, the Ibrox boss said: "No. No. I think he will stay. I can't say for certain, I'm not in control of that. Obviously Nico's had an opportunity to go today, and it wasn't something he wanted or the club or entertained. It was hardly the ideal preparation."
Raskin's role and Shankland's winner
Raskin refused to allow the day of transfer drama to affect him and was instrumental in the move that produced the first of Lawrence Shankland's two goals on the night. McInnes - who has allowed Thelo Aasgaard to hold talks with Anderlecht on a loan move to Belgium - added: "Even coming through from Ibrox at lunchtime today, at the hotel I had Thelo two rows behind me and Nico three rows behind me and I didn't know who was coming and who was going. It's far from ideal. This is the difficulty when you're playing games while the window's still open. This seems to be the longest window ever. Thankfully, this will be the last question I get asked about a transfer window because on Saturday, when we're at Motherwell, the transfer window's shut. Just for the clarity, calmness and peace of mind for so many people, including myself, it will be no bad thing."
Shankland had been searching for his first goal from open play having netted only twice from the spot since joining his boyhood heroes this summer. But he soon broke his duck from open play with a fiercely hit opener eight minutes in. A Kosta Nedeljkovic own goal just before half-time brought the Bairns level. But McInnes praised his skipper for shaking off a big miss just after half-time to fire a superb winner with 12 to go.
Kelsy arrival and Falkirk reaction
McInnes reckons it's just the boost Shankland will need with £9million frontman Kevin Kelsy set to arrive today. He said: "I'm very pleased for Lawrence Shankland. I thought his second goal was particularly good, considering he missed the chance that he would be kicking himself with. But, like all good strikers, the experience of Lawrence, the calmness of Lawrence, the quality comes up with a big moment. It's not been, like for all of us, the easiest of starts. Obviously Lawrence would feel the weight of that a lot more than some others, I think, just because of his background and how eager he is. A proper captain's performance out there tonight."
He added: "There's no secret that we've worked hard to get Kevin here, so, yeah, I think [that will be the only arrival on deadline day]. There may be one other little thing that we'll still pick up on when I come off the coach tonight and speak to Jim Gillespie, potentially. But if we can get Kevin and add to our attacking threats, I just think the club and the team will settle down. We'll get into a rhythm. I don't anticipate any more outs, certainly, and I'm not convinced there'll be any more ins other than the boy you mentioned [Kelsy]."
Falkirk were deservedly level at the break - and could have hit the front had they taken two big chances after half-time with Ethan Ross and Jacob Murrell. John McGlynn said: "I think we've got two great opportunities in the second half that we could have put ourselves 2 or 3-1 up. If you give Lawrence any kind of space in the box, he's going to punish you. And he's got a wee habit of doing it against us. I thought for 30 minutes of the second half, we were the better team. We probably deserved something, but we don't want to be this team that can play nice football and be attractive and play good games. We need to start turning that into wins."
