RANGERS REFUSED to meet Scott Brown's wage demands as the resentment it would have caused could have torn the Ibrox dressing room apart, Sir David Murray claimed last night.

The 22-year-old Hibs midfielder was this summer at the centre of the biggest Old Firm transfer tug-of-war since Mo Johnston, before agreeing a £4.5 million move to Celtic which guarantees the player £25,000 a week for the next five years.

According to Murray, however, the choice of destination owes less to a difference of ambition between the two halves of the Old Firm and more to the fact the Ibrox side didn't want to disrupt the harmony of the other Scots in his dressing room.

"We wouldn't pay the wages - it's as simple as that," said Murray. "We have a template to take the club forward. If Celtic decide to pay the wages that were reported of £25,000 a week, £3-4,000 a game, and massive signing on fees for a young Sottish boy then that is their decision.

"We have then got to deal with all the other Scottish players. Do you think all these other Scottish players would be re-signing their contracts if we were paying one more than twice the wages they earn?

"We've got to get parity through the squad, unity through the squad and try to treat them all fairly. If a young boy comes into the first team, he can expect £2-3,000 a week - which is a lot of money for all of us. If he does well then after a couple of years it could be £6-7,000. If he improves and becomes a regular he can be £10-12,000 a week, which, with bonuses, he can take to £16,000 a week. I think it is fair, reasonable, and all that we can afford.

"Both clubs could afford the transfer fee but the wages were their choice. When you look at the total package it could be £14-15m for one player. He is a good player and we would have liked to have had him but it is up to them how they do their business."

Murray was giving one of his rare but typically productive briefings that have punctuated his 19 years as Rangers chairman ahead of yesterday's 2-0 victory over Chelsea, and next week's announcement to the stock exchange - which is expected to reveal that the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League has seen debt double from around £6m to £12m.

But he was in no mood to give ground to those snipers who believe his commitment to the cause is in terminal decline.

"I think you can see we're getting quite active again in the market," he said. "We are going to spend well over £10m this year and still intend to bring in two or three more players. I am invigorated by having Walter Smith here, Alastair McCoist here, Kenny McDowall here: there's been a vibrancy about the place. I remain as committed to the club as I have ever been."

Not that the club isn't still officially up for sale. "I have been here 19 years and we have won 13 championships, let's just put it all in perspective," Murray said. "What I said was that one day I don't want to do it forever, and the situation remains the same.

"There have been a few nibbles but not the right person for me to hand on my legacy to Rangers. There is no photofit of the ideal candidate to buy the club but what it has to be is somebody who I feel comfortable that my legacy and the future of the club is in good hands.

"We have been on the dancefloor with several parties. But we decided not to take it any further because it wasn't the right thing for the club. There is no point somebody coming along using every single penny that they have got to beg, steal and borrow to get themselves in a position where they own the club, then they can't do anything with it."

One of the less welcome pieces of news on the agenda was a morning report trailing the publication of a new book on Paul Le Guen, which suggests the Frenchman had felt betrayed by the way Murray refused to back him when he proposed the sale of captain Barry Ferguson.

"I genuinely believe it is someone trying to sell a book," said Murray. "Martin Bain has been in contact with Yves Colleu, Le Guen's assistant and there has been no acrimony since so I am surprised by the headline but not surprised by the author.

"It says I was interviewed, and I wasn't interviewed, so that is the authenticity of it. What Paul did was he wanted to sell Barry Ferguson and I said be fully aware of the consequences."

Murray also conceded that Rangers Old Firm rivals must be considered favourites to claim a third title in a row.

"On form, Celtic are the favourites," he said. "They have won the last two championships. In the bookies' eyes they're the favourites, you guys are writing they're the favourites, so they must be the favourites."