Barry Ferguson

[UCF2008 0]

RDB was a great player and had his fair share of good times at Ibrox. However, his final season at the club was a huge letdown, whether it was through legitimate injury or otherwise. As a result of this he'll struggle to be remembered as the Rangers legend he could have been. Ferguson, on the other hand, is already there.

 

Although a fair share of our support have their doubts about him, it wasn't enough to put a stop to the despicable scenes at Fir Park which all but brought down the curtain on the short-lived PLG era. He still has my backing as captain of club and country as when he's 100% fit he's always been our best player. I do however feel that when he's playing through the pain barrier, most of the time it's like being a man down. This HAS TO STOP and if we're to blame anyone for it continuing to happen it has to be the manager. At the end of the day if he's not fit enough to play for Scotland, then he's not fit enough to play for Rangers. At least IMO that should be the case.

[UCF2008 0]

Another thing which has bothered me, esp. since he came back from Blackburn is the way in which he deals with certain aspects of his leadership duties. All too often he berates the younger players (even if he's the one at fault) when he would do better to offer encouragement to those who look up to him. I have to admit that he didn't seem to do this as often last season, so hopefully that's a side of his game which has been brought into check.

[Gribz 847]

De Boer was a truly class player but he was the man playing in a free role behind the strikers and Ferguson was much more deep.

 

It makes me think how good Buffel and Ferguson would have been together if they got a run in the same team when they were both fit.

 

The only way I can see Ferguson playing well with the current squad including Davis would be to have a 4-3-3 like this:

 

_________Ferguson_______Davis_________Thomson_________

 

____Miller/Novo______Velicka/Cousin______Beasley/Lafferty____

[pete 2,499]

Just a thought. I wonder if Fergie would have ever gotten a chance if Smith had remained, given his youth record. Or would he have been punted?

[calscot 0]

Just a thought. I wonder if Fergie would have ever gotten a chance if Smith had remained, given his youth record. Or would he have been punted?

 

He'd have been punted while we kept Gattuso instead!

[juffery 0]

He'd have been punted while we kept Gattuso instead!

 

What a hardship that would've been

[calscot 0]

I agree with the sentiment of the piece although disagree about PLG. While Barry might possibly have been a "snake in the grass", I think PLG wrote his own exit visa.

 

A highly regarded manager who lives up to his reputation will never be kicked out of a club before a player, and if he can really manage then he should be able to exert more influence on the squad than ANY player.

 

Without meaning to be sycophantic to Walter, I really can't foresee that problem EVER happing to him. He knows how to manage even the most tempestuous of players. And when he gets it wrong, he holds his hands up.

 

A full revolt must be difficult but should not happen to a manager who has brought in 13 of his own players.

 

As for the great football under PLG, I think it lasted about 2 games, one of which we drew and the other we struggled to win - it then became some of the most dire football since Jock Wallace's second stint.

 

You just have to listen to the interviews to realise Le Guen did not have a clue about how to make Rangers into a force, he never once said anything that made much sense or that agreed with what we saw on the pitch. He was in denial, and a guy who cannot even pronounce a club's name has obviously not done his research.

 

The French have a different pronunciation of vowels but they still have all of them in their repertoire, all he needed to do was imagine the 'a' was an '�©' - 'R�©ngers'. It may sound like a petty point but I think it totally encapsulated his clueless tenure at Rangers.

 

So what I'm saying is that while Barry may have delivered the Coup de Gras in the demise of PLG, it was the manager himself who put himself into a hopeless situation.

[ian1964 10,720]

I agree that PLG got himself sacked,maybe a whole team could get a manager sacked,but to try and blame one player is ridiculous IMO.I must have been sleeping when we played such magical football under PLG.

[ascender 352]

I just don't know what the problem is with Fergie though and I mean that in terms of why we're not getting the best out of him.

 

Are we playing him out of position?

 

Is it the system that doesn't suit him?

 

Are his injuries worse than has been made public?

 

Does he need better players around him?

 

The subject of movement amongst our forwards has been mentioned, but even with someone like JCD and Novo who can run the channels well, Fergie doesn't seem to make those defence splitting passes any more for forwards or wingers to run on to.

 

Whether he individually plays well or not, he seems to bring "something" to the team which those around him don't. But at times, apart from this influence or whatever it is he has, he's often a passenger. And I don't think we can afford passengers, especially going forward from what happened last season and trying to correct some of the problems and limitations we have.

 

So looking at the possible lineups, where do you play him next season?

 

I also think that its not the best message to send out to our other players that he's untouchable in the team. I know he's the captain, so maybe we need to take that away from him so there's less pressure on him and less pressure on WS to play him.

[UCF2008 0]

I think Dick Advocaat nailed it when he compared Ferguson to Ballack. He's not the best attacking midfielder in the world or the best holding midfielder in the world, he's just a straightforward midfielder with a good level of skill and plenty of fighting spirit. It's just been his and our missfortune that due to constantly playing through injury and struggling to find his true level of form, we've been stuck with the 'poor mans Ballack' for the past 3 seasons. Hopefully this season can be different and he'll do enough to prove all the doubters wrong.