Barry on Boozegate

[ian1964 10,720]

EXCLUSIVE by Darrell King in Birmingham

 

BARRY FERGUSON today speaks for the first time about his Scotland Boozegate shame - and his fury at the way the SFA ended his international career.

 

The former Rangers captain, now at Birmingham after a �£1million summer move, has kept his own counsel on events at Cameron House back in March when he stayed up all night in the bar drinking with team-mate Allan McGregor.

 

But Ferguson has spoken exclusively to SportTimes writer Darrell King and, in Part One of a series that will run in our pages this week, he reveals: His anger at the way the SFA informed him he was banned for life.

 

Why he wants Scotland to beat Norway this Wednesday night in Oslo to keep the World Cup dream alive.

 

His feelings towards George Burley and the rest of the international hierarchy.

 

Here's the first of our exclusive articles:

 

THIS time was unquestionably the most difficult two hours of Barry Ferguson's life.

 

In a Murray Park office alongside shell-shocked team-mate Allan McGregor - with Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, his right-hand man Andrew Dickson, and Players' Union head Fraser Wishart all for company - the details of his fine and suspension from the club he had just disgraced were being laid out in cold, hard facts.

 

Ferguson's head was all over the place. Just a few hours earlier he had reported to Rangers' training ground for the first time since the now infamous Scotland Boozegate controversy had exploded and turned his world upside down.

 

Fatally - and if he could turn back time this is one of many things he would reverse - he had walked past Walter Smith's office that Friday morning. It should have been his first port of call, he should have sought his manager and apologised for his conduct.

 

But he didn't. And he was paying the price for that lack of respect to the man he held - and still holds - in the utmost regard.

 

There was no grey area with what was happening. Ferguson had shamed Rangers. For that, Smith had decreed, he was going to face severe punishment.

 

The now infamous Cameron House drinking session with close pal McGregor that had become public to the Iceland World Cup qualifier at Hampden, Smith could accept.

 

He didn't like it one little bit, but these things happen - and will no doubt happen again sometime, somewhere - such is the way with football players.

 

But the images of the captain of Rangers making V-sign gestures at photographers - along with McGregor on the bench at the National Stadium - was something that saw Smith explode with rage.

 

Head bowed, he was taking his medicine. Then, the fax machine in the corner of the office began to whirr.

 

A sheet of paper appeared, a carbon copy of the press statement the SFA were about to release to the world.

 

Ferguson was being informed by fax that his international career was also over. And that, more than anything else, is something that the now Birmingham City player still struggles to get his head around.

 

"Listen, I was totally in the wrong with what happened at the hotel, I would never sit for a second and try to dress that up in any way or try to make a case for what went on that night with the drinking," he says, relaxed in the hotel grounds of the luxurious hotel close to Birmingham that is his temporary home until a permanent abode can be found.

 

"If I could go back and change things I would, of course I would. I should have gone to bed, and I should never have made the V-signs - when I see the pictures of that I feel so stupid. I looked like a daft idiot and I should have known better. But it was an error, a bad call.

 

"I let myself down, my family down, my country down and I let Walter Smith, Rangers and the supporters down.

 

"That's something I'll need to live with and it does still hurt me. I should have gone to bed, that's the bottom line.

 

"But I made a mistake and people do that - I am a human being, not a robot and I made a costly mistake.

 

"The thing that rankles with me now is the way the SFA handled the entire situation - for me it was a joke.

 

"I had played for Scotland 45 times, I had captained my country for years - and they sent a fax to Murray Park saying that I would never play for my country again. It was just the same statement they put out, that was it!

 

"That just astonished me. The machine starts to ring, and in comes a fax from Hampden for my attention telling me that I would no longer be picked, and neither would Allan.

 

"The people in the room just looked at each other in total disbelief - is that how something like that should be handled?

 

"No-one has ever spoken to me from the Scotland set-up. Not the manager, the chief executive, a PR guy, anyone.

 

"I was driving back into Murray Park after being sent home for a few hours and I heard on the radio that the SFA were going to ban me for life.

 

"I was in such a whirl that I wasn't taking anything in -then a fax arrives and that was it over ... no phone call, no anything. That, for me, sums the SFA up. They don't know how to handle anything properly."

 

Rangers were also seriously unhappy with the way the governing body handled the whole episode.

 

The thought inside the club was that they piggy-backed' onto their punishment when it should all have been dealt with swiftly at the time, and that the players should have been banished from the squad instantly which would have avoided the subsequent media frenzy that ensued, and prompted the V-sign gestures.

 

"Maybe that was the case, I don't know and the SFA would need to answer that," said Ferguson.

 

"The whole thing was a bit of a farce to be honest. First of all we were to leave Cameron House, then some of the players went to the manager and said they didn't want that, and the next thing we were told to stay.

 

"The manager then said we would be subs, and then two days later we were banned for life and they said it was down to what had happened at the game on the bench with the V-signs.

 

"Fair enough, if they think sending a fax to tell you it's all over is the right thing to do, then that's up to them.

 

"What I would say is that Rangers handled the thing the right way. We sat face to face, I took my punishment and it was done properly.

 

"I wasn't happy, of course I wasn't, but I knew why the club had acted the way they did and I just had to go away and try to deal with it.

 

"But the SFA? That was a shambles for me. Then I hear a few days later Gordon Smith saying on the radio the door might not be closed, we could still play and all that sort of stuff.

 

"That sums it up for me, the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing in that place."

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2524783.0.0.php

[Gazza_8 233]

Good read that.

[ian1964 10,720]

BARRY FERGUSON won't watch Scotland in action against Norway on Wednesday night.

 

But he hopes they get a result that will keep their World Cup dream alive.

 

Ferguson's decision to blank the game in Oslo is not based on any over-hang from the Boozegate chaos that caused his international career to come to a dramatic end.

 

It is just a ritual he has of never watching games.

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"I won't watch the game, but I never watch games on TV to be honest," he smiled.

 

"Look, I've got a lot of pals in the team and I hope they win.

 

"James McFadden went away from down here last week and I wished him all the best.

 

"I hope the team wins and gets a result to keep them going.

 

"My bitterness is not towards any of the team in the set-up, just with the way the SFA dealt with things."

 

And what of his relationship with George Burley, the man who is trying to steer Scotland to South Africa and take the nation to a major tournament for the first time since the 1998 World Cup in France.

 

"I never had a problem with the manager," Ferguson went on. "I was straight with him, and we were fine.

 

"People have suggested he wanted me out and the Cameron House thing was the excuse he wanted. But I never sensed any problems so I don't think that was the case.

 

"It might come home to me that it's all over in terms of Scotland seeing that it's the first game since what happened in March.

 

"But I hope they win the game, you want your country to do well."

 

What upset Ferguson, though, was the accusation that he ducked out of international duty at times, faking injuries to avoid playing.

 

He said: "That really annoyed me. I was totally committed to my country, there was NEVER one squad I pulled out of because of something that was not genuine.

 

"It got thrown at me that I didn't want to play for Scotland and that Rangers was all that mattered.

 

"That is a lot of rubbish, there were games when I took jags and tablets to play through injuries for my country."

[Norris Cole 0]

Barry saying what all Rangers fans have known for years.

 

The SFA is an exclusive club for muppets and Rangers-haters.

[ian1964 10,720]

THE dressing room at Tannadice was awash with champagne - and relief. Rangers had just clinched their first title since 2005 and the small changing area was a scene of wild celebrations.

 

Barry Ferguson sat in the corner trying to come to terms with what he had just been involved in because titles were nothing knew to him. He had, after all, winner's medals in the bag from 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2005.

 

But, while this one had held huge significance for Rangers as they attempted to raise much- needed cash with automatic entry into the Champions League, it was also his sweetest - and most emotional - moment yet.

 

In the immediate aftermath of the Scotland "Boozegate" chaos, Walter Smith had, just a few weeks before, gone in and informed journalists, off the record, that Ferguson would never play for the club again.

 

Smith had struggled to contain his rage, fuelled by disbelief his captain had treated him with so little respect, not bothering to seek him out on his return to Murray Park after the drinking and V-sign shambles.

 

Now that all felt a million miles away. Born and bred a Rangers supporter, he knew more than many in that room just what winning the cham-pionship meant to thousands of fans who were making Tanna- dice rock, and those setting off to meet the team at Ibrox after Celtic's iron grip on the crown had been loosened.

 

The knock came from SPL officials. It was time to collect the prize. Ferguson hung back. Davie Weir was skipper now and would do the honours.

 

Then came a moment that the 31-year-old says still has him choking upa moment that will live with him forever.

 

"It was pretty chaotic. It was the first title for a lot of the boys and we had been under major pressure going out at Tannadice that day," Ferguson recalled.

 

"The boys were all high as kites, but we got into line to file back out for the trophy presentation. Big Davie was skipper. I just stayed back and was going into line behind the rest of the guys and Davie would go out last.

 

"But the gaffer tugged my arm and pulled me aside. He said I've spoken to big Davie about this - we both want you to go up and get the trophy with him jointly'.

 

"I just felt a lump in my throat right away. It was an amazing gesture as I knew I wasn't exactly Mr Popular because of what had happened with the Scotland thing.

 

"That says everything for me about Walter. One of the worst feelings I've ever had was that I had let him down so badly because he has been such a huge influence on my life.

 

"But he instigated that at Tannadice and that will live with me forever. I kind of knew that it would be my second last game, with the Scottish Cup Final the following week. The vibes were coming out that the club felt it might be better for me to move on as I had a year to go on my contract and obviously they were looking at getting the wage bill down.

 

"So to go out like that was amazing. The Scottish Cup Final when we beat Falkirk was good, don't get me wrong, as winning any trophy is fantastic.

 

"But the title win was incred-ible. The fans were all singing my name, I got to hold up the trophy with big Davie - I looked around the place going mad and thought to myself that, just a few weeks before, when I was in a real dark place, something like this would have been unthinkable.

 

"The manager just made it special. It just confirmed to me once again what a real manager he is - the best in the business for me, no question."

 

Much had been made of the way Smith dealt with Ferguson and Allan McGregor for their misdemeanours. But for all he was left stunned at what was being dealt down, Ferguson's immediate feeling was more of regret that he had clearly upset and hurt Smith and the club.

 

"I totally understand why the gaffer went ballistic," Ferguson said as he prepared for a baptism of fire for Birmingham at Old Trafford this weekend.

 

"Rangers is everything to Walter, I had shamed Rangers and I had let him down. I got fined two week's wages, which went to charity, and I had to take the ban on the chin. Of course I saw all the headlines the next morning that I would never play again - but that was never said to me at the disciplinary meeting.

 

"When the two weeks were up I went in to see the gaffer and we had a good chat. He asked me if my head was okay as we were getting down to the nitty gritty in the title race and he wanted to know if I was ready to play if called upon.

 

"He later said he had maybe over-reacted to what happened when he told the press I was finished, so maybe he calmed down a bit - and I had as well.

 

"We shook hands right away, we had NO problem at all. I said Listen gaffer, I am ready if you need me. You know what you'll get with me - I want to win this as much as anyone at the club'."

 

Ferguson was then scheduled to turn out in a reserve game against Hearts at Forthbank. It was the first time he had pulled on a Rangers jersey for four weeks.

 

Just a minute into the game, disaster struck. He felt a pop in his calf, maybe as a result of not much action in his banished spell. Was injury, rather than any of his own mistakes, about to put an end to his Rangers career for good?

 

"I sat in the dressing room thinking, things are not getting much better, eh'. It didn't feel too bad, but with a calf tear the length of time you are out depends on the size of the tear.

 

"It turned out to be two or three centimetres, so that was maybe only going to be two weeks. I heard on the radio the next morning that I had played my last game - that injury had called time on me.

 

"But I trained as hard as I ever had to get fit. I knew the team might need me, and then the gaffer put me on the bench for the Aberdeen match at home.

 

"It was mad that day, one of the craziest games ever. Big Kyle Lafferty had his head-butt thing, Madjid Bougherra got sent off, we went 2-0 up then lost a goal.

 

"The fans were really on edge, and understandably so, as the title was on the line - so when the gaffer put me on I don't think people noticed that much as they were wrapped up in everything else!

 

"But the fans were great. I had let them down because the captain of Rangers should not have behaved the way I did.

 

"But they know I am one of the family, even if we have our fall-outs. I got great support when I met any of our fans out and about.

 

"Then they nearly had me in tears at Tannadice. That, and what the gaffer did. I am glad that's my last memory of Rangers as a player it was the way I would have wanted to go after everything that had happened."