Barry Ferguson - It's not easy being a Rangers fan at times like these.

[ian1964 10,761]

IT’S not easy being a Rangers fan at times like these.

 

While Celtic spent yesterday with all eyes on Monte Carlo, my old club was trying to get excited about a League One visit from a team from Methil.

 

The club has fallen so far from grace over the past couple of years it has been hard to make sense of it all. Much of it has been a blur, just one heartbreaking episode after the next. You reach the stage where you’ve taken so many kickings you’re just grateful still to be alive.

 

But then you have a week like this one, when you see your old rivals qualifying for the Champions League and gearing up for trips to the Nou Camp, the San Siro and the Amsterdam ArenA. While Ally McCoist and his players are preparing for East Fife at home.

 

As reality checks come, this one makes the eyes water.

 

Since Wednesday night, I’ve been speaking to a few of the boys at Blackpool about it and they were asking me if I think Rangers will ever get back to that level. Or if the Champions League is gone for good. If too much harm and damage has been done for Rangers to ever recover their old status.

 

Now – and I know I’ll be slaughtered for this – but I believe Rangers will be back in the Champions League. And they’ll be back within five years.

 

Yes, I can see why that may seem ridiculous right now but I’m deadly serious.

 

First thing’s first, we need the likes of Jim McColl and his men to take control of the finances and to clean up the mess in the boardroom. And, yes, I know that’ll be easier said than done.

 

But with the right people in charge off the pitch, Rangers won’t need decades to close that gap. They might be in the third tier but as far as I’m concerned, with the new signings available, they’ve got the second strongest team in Scottish football. If they were in the top flight this season they’d finish runners-up. I’m sure of it.

 

So they’ll rip their way through League One this year and it’ll be the same in the Championship.

 

That means in less than two years’ time they’ll be back where they belong. And I honestly believe it’s being realistic to say they’ll be Scotland’s champions again inside of three years.

 

And then these players will have the chance to enjoy what Celtic experienced on Wednesday night. And as someone who knows what I’m talking about, believe me when I say it really doesn’t get any better.

 

I was genuinely pleased for Celtic’s players the other night. Aye OK, maybe that’s pushing it. But as a player I could understand exactly how much it meant to these guys to get through against Shakhter Karagandy. I know Neil Lennon wouldn’t have needed to give them a pre-match team talk.

 

And it’s not just about the finances and the bonuses either. As players, you realise money just can’t buy nights like that.

 

I remember how I felt when that Champions League music started up – it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was an incredible feeling – totally different from a Saturday. It didn’t matter if it was Barcelona coming to Ibrox, I was so pumped up I truly believed I could go out there and take them.

 

I see a lot of similarities in some of the current Celtic players. That atmosphere does the same thing to them. It’s hard to describe but there’s something electric about these kind of games.

 

I remember driving up to the stadium on the bus and seeing the fans going mental on the streets outside. By the time you walked in through the front doors you felt eight foot tall. You realise the game is going to be televised all around the world. This is your chance to show everyone what you can do against the best. I’ll always remember playing against Lothar Matthaus and Bayern Munich in 1999 when I had just got into Dick Advocaat’s team. I was just a wee boy and had total respect for that guy but as soon as I crossed that line I wanted to destroy him.

 

Anyway, I must have been a pain in the a*** because he poked me in the eye during the away game against them at the Olympic Stadium. I had been in about his ankles from the start and he probably thought, ‘Who’s this skinny little runt from Scotland, running about with the plooks on his chin? What have we got here?’

 

And I have to admit, I loved it. I knew right then I was giving him a game. Lothar Matthaus, one of the greatest players in the world, had just poked me in the eye. I couldn’t have been prouder.

 

Now I’m older I look back and I see it from his point of view and I laugh at myself. I know what it’s like when you’re up against kids who are trying to fire in about you.

 

But that’s the attitude you need. I turn into a different animal out there and that’s the way it has to be.

 

The downside is that people get a perception of you from what they see on the pitch. And that sticks. I know people still look at me and think this guy’s a wee ned – all because I ran about with my face all screwed up, shouting and bawling.

 

That used to bother me. But you get older and wiser and you learn to accept things. I look back now and say, ‘Look at him, he’s running around like a f****** idiot’. Then I realise it’s myself I’m watching.

 

So I can’t blame others for thinking the same thing. It’s just the way I need to play in order to get the best out of myself. And if you can’t get the best out of yourself in the Champions League then you’ve no business being there. Another big European night that stands out was the qualifier against Copenhagen 10 years ago. I went into that one knowing it would be my last game for Rangers as I would be signing for Blackburn when we got back. And another 48 hours later I remember realising I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

 

That was a weird night. On the one hand we were celebrating with the fans, and on the other I knew deep down I was away. I remember thinking to myself at the time, ‘I’ve just left Rangers, what am I doing?’

 

And so now every time I watch a Champions League game it reminds me of that night. It sends a shiver up my spine when the music starts. It’s crazy what that tune does.

 

And I know the Celtic boys would have been feeling the same way. Now they’ve got the group games to come and every one of them will be looking at where Victor Wanyama, right, and Gary Hooper ended up. These guys will be thinking they could be next to get a move to the EPL.

 

That’s what the Champions League offers players, a big-money move. And it’s why Rangers must keep ploughing on through all the hard miles until they’re hearing that music for themselves. Trust me, it’ll be worth the journey.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

mattius couldn't handle wee barry in those games. he also had him by the throat at one point.

 

i have to say barrys columns have been pretty good since they started.

[Waltersgotstyle 307]

The Bayern game was one of our best away performances, we did everything bar score.

 

I have always liked Barry, but the League cup comment (Biggest achievement of his career), will forever stick in my throat - albeit he was probably slightly misquoted.

 

In regards to the article - I myself think we will be back in the CL sooner than expected, just look at the rise of Napoli lately.

[JTP 0]

The Bayern game was one of our best away performances, we did everything bar score.

 

I have always liked Barry, but the League cup comment (Biggest achievement of his career), will forever stick in my throat - albeit he was probably slightly misquoted.

 

In regards to the article - I myself think we will be back in the CL sooner than expected, just look at the rise of Napoli lately.

 

I'm exactly the same mate.

[Tumshie RFC 0]

mattius couldn't handle wee barry in those games. he also had him by the throat at one point.

 

i have to say barrys columns have been pretty good since they started.

 

One of our best away performances and we came away with nothing to show for it. We absolutely battered them that night.