Jump to content

Ibroxblue

Senior Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,070

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Ibroxblue

    Your Player Ratings For Today?

    in Jimmy Bell's Kitroom

    Posted

    McGregor 6 - mistake/decent saves

    Hutton 7 - did well

    Svensson 7 - coming along

    Hemdani 6 - still not an SPL CB

    smith 6 - not his best game

    Sionko 6 - good shift

    Adam 6 - ditto

    Ferguson 8 - bossed the midfield

    Clement 7 - showed more than of late

    Prso 8 - great shift

    Novo 6 - worked hard as usual, achieved little

    Sebo 5 - did some good things e.g great cross

    Buffel 4 - didn't really get into the game

    Barry and PLG not getting on?

    in Jimmy Bell's Kitroom

    Posted

    http://www.sundayherald.com/sport/shfootba...0.eye_ready.php

    BARRY FERGUSON and Paul Le Guen do not see eye-to-eye. Any question about that was removed on the eve of today's Old Firm match at Ibrox as Ferguson admitted he was unhappy that his manager doesn't take the captaincy of the club as seriously as he does.

    To a man who grew up supporting Rangers, there is nothing that provokes more pride and passion than leading the team. To the Frenchman, thanks to revealing insight given earlier this month, the captaincy isn't as important to the players - or to him - as the Scottish media would make out. Ferguson, he said, was not his voice on the pitch.

    "I read that and I wasn't happy with those comments," said Ferguson, in a tone laced with both regret and indignation as he broke his silence on the issue ahead of Celtic's visit to Govan today.

    continued...

    "To me, it is the most important job that's about. I'm privileged to be the captain and all my friends and family are happy for me. But that's the gaffer's opinion, and there is nothing I can do or say about that.

    "Everyone has got their own opinion, and obviously in different countries it is not the same, but for me it means the world and I'm not going to let anyone stop me being what I am. It is something that I dreamed of at a young age - going to Ibrox with my dad and watching my brother - to be captain."

    Both the 28-year-old's words and demeanour spoke volumes. Despite Le Guen's claims that he had spoken to Ferguson about the captain's role, the man himself was adamant no such meeting had taken place. "What meeting?

    He didn't say anything to me," observed Ferguson coldly.

    For those who have suspected there is little warmth in the relationship between the new manager and the player who should be his senior lieutenant, here seemed ample corroborating evidence.

    Indeed, as Ferguson ruminated on the match against the runaway league leaders, there appeared to be more empathy with the player who will lead out today's opponents than with the manager charged with restoring Rangers' fortunes.

    "I grew up as a fan of the club, I played for them and the captaincy has topped it off for me," said Ferguson. "I guess it is the same thing for Neil Lennon across the road. He's the exact same as me - he supported Celtic.

    "He was in the Premiership with Leicester City and it took him a while, but he got his dream move to Celtic and now he is captain. We're the same people, we've supported the clubs and it is a privilege."

    While Ferguson hasn't yet taken to getting as fiery and physical with his colleagues as Lennon has in recent weeks, there have been rumours that Le Guen is not entirely enamoured with the Scot's captaincy style - particularly the balance between berating teammates and encouraging them.

    However, Ferguson insists he is not about to change the way he leads the team. "I wouldn't change, no I wouldn't change what I am. I'm passionate about my job and I'm passionate about the role I play as captain. I enjoy being a moaning bastard," he joked.

    Given the 16-point gap between Rangers and Celtic, the armband may weigh particularly heavy at Ibrox at the moment, but Ferguson shrugs off the pressures that come with that set of unsatisfactory circumstances. As the team's focal point on the pitch, he expects to shoulder more responsibility - and criticism - when the team are struggling.

    "When things aren't going well, I do get the brunt of it, but I am big enough and ugly enough to cope with that," he said.

    "At the start, when I first got the captaincy, it was a bit more difficult, but now I don't bother with what anyone says.

    "Obviously Neil Lennon got the job in the past year and a bit and I went through the same good times that he is enjoying now. But we'll both get it when things are bad."

    Rangers' progression to the final 32 of the Uefa Cup, in which they will face Hapoel Tel-Aviv next February, has provided some respite from their domestic troubles, but Ferguson admits to being mystified as to why they have struggled to find any consistency in the SPL.

    Last weekend's victory over Hibernian was probably the team's strongest league performance of the season so far, but the captain knows it will count for little unless it is built on over the next few weeks.

    "The league table doesn't lie and the best team is at the top and that is Celtic. It is now up to us to start producing the goods week in, week out," he admitted. "It is no use doing it for one game and not doing it the next week. We've got to get a consistent run going.

    "We can only start saying we're looking like a team when we're on an eight, nine or 10-game unbeaten run, but so far this season that hasn't happened. It is nothing to do with Celtic being strong - we've just not been good enough."

    Despite a recent slip-up against Falkirk, there have been signs that Rangers have belatedly been getting their act together, and the return of Jeremy Clement to the starting line-up at the beginning of last month may well have been a catalyst.

    The young French midfielder, out for two months with a knee injury, sits in front of the back four and provides Le Guen with the "quarter-back" he likes his teams to play with. The benefits for Ferguson are obvious. Freed from the shackles of protecting a defence which is still far too porous, Scotland's captain has been able to influence proceedings further up the park; his commanding display against Hibs highlighting his recent impressive form.

    "I've got a lot of time for Jeremy as a player," he said. "He plays his role brilliantly. He sits and protects and let's me do my own thing.

    He plays a very important role for us and I really enjoy playing with him. I think we're forming a decent partnership."

    The midfield battle between the Rangers duo and Lennon and Thomas Gravesen should be one of today's most intriguing contests. What will also be fascinating is how Le Guen sets his team out to play. In recent games, they've seemed more comfortable in a 4-4-2 formation - a departure from the 4-2-3-1 the Frenchman favoured at Lyon and imported to Ibrox when he first arrived.

    Ferguson, not for the first time, provided an interestingly-phrased answer when quizzed on his preference. "The manager has got his own ideas of what formation he wants to play - I'm not the guy who picks it. He is the manager and whatever he picks, we've got to go with it - there is nothing we can do about it."

    If that response lacked conviction, there should be no doubting his conviction this afternoon. Even during his 18-month break at Blackburn Rovers, he used to return to Glasgow to watch Old Firm matches. Today's will be the 30th he has appeared in.

    "I'm not into statistics, but 30 is a good achievement and hopefully we will pick up three points. I've experienced everything in these games - that's part of being an Old Firm player. Some good times, some bad and some even worse."

    He hopes he will be smiling at the final whistle today - the proud captain of a team who have begun to make winning a habit.

×
×
  • Create New...