yorkshirebear52 0 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 BARRY FERGUSON today speaks for the first time about his Scotland Boozegate shame - and his fury at the way the SFA called time on 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 Sport Times and reveals in part one of a series that will run in our pages this week: * 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. It's the biggest football story of the summer - and it starts in your Evening Times today. Publication date 10/08/09 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Manticore* 1,893 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 We're running ads for newspapers now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralCartmanLee 313 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 We're running ads for newspapers now Not that i can see.... the guy is letting people know about a story that most people on the board will be interested in...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugbenson 13 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 BARRY FERGUSON today speaks for the first time about his Scotland Boozegate shame - and his fury at the way the SFA called time on 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 Sport Times and reveals in part one of a series that will run in our pages this week: * 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. It's the biggest football story of the summer - and it starts in your Evening Times today. Publication date 10/08/09 the rest been forgot about already.............. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartmccallsfall 4 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 BARRY FERGUSON today speaks for the first time about his Scotland Boozegate shame - and his fury at the way the SFA called time on 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 Sport Times and reveals in part one of a series that will run in our pages this week: * 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. It's the biggest football story of the summer - and it starts in your Evening Times today. Publication date 10/08/09 the rest been forgot about already.............. I've noticed this myself. Sweep, sweep, mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshirebear52 0 Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 the article in full EXCLUSIVE by Darrell King 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." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueIsTheColour 35 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Fergie comes across very well in that article. And he is right, the SFA are a joke when it comes to handling their affairs. Telling anyone their international career is over via a fax, let alone the captain, is cowardly. Ferguson and Alan were definitely in the wrong but the decision to put them on the bench for me is the most ridiculous one i have ever known. Burley should have been sacked immediately for his incompetence throughout the whole issue. Anyway, i wish Barry the best of luck at Birmingham and hope that he makes the SFA regret never selecting him again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wertp72 0 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I like how he doesn't "grass" anyone else in. We all know others were there . He knows he was daft but the SFA once again, deal with a matter in a terrible manner. Not for the first time either. And probably not the last when it comes to Rangers players. But Barry, you were the captain of a large club and your country, you should not have done it in the first place. You only gave the media an excuse to fire into you and Allan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo. 952 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Fergie comes across very well in that article. And he is right, the SFA are a joke when it comes to handling their affairs. Telling anyone their international career is over via a fax, let alone the captain, is cowardly. Ferguson and Alan were definitely in the wrong but the decision to put them on the bench for me is the most ridiculous one i have ever known. Burley should have been sacked immediately for his incompetence throughout the whole issue. Anyway, i wish Barry the best of luck at Birmingham and hope that he makes the SFA regret never selecting him again. Couldn't agree more with this statement. The image of Burley wringing his hands in his hotel room as his players dictate to him that he'd made a cunt of it and that Ferguson/McGregor should stay is the one that sticks with me. An embarrassment, simpering, weasel of a man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancedeangers1 287 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 As a Northern Ireland fan I maybe have a different take to some scottish fans. I dont disagree that the drinking session and subsequent v sign incident were wrong, but to ban the two boys for life is way over the top for me. They had a drink and gave some cameramen the fingers, its hardly life threatening behaviour? Barry was spot on in all his comments and I for one wish him all the best of luck in the future. A true Rangers man and legend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlCapone 7,678 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 poor Barry, always someone elses fault. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poetry_In_Blue 1,043 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 poor Barry, always someone elses fault. Did you read the article? He admitted he was an idiot and shouldn't have did what he did, his criticism was directed towards the way the SFA handled the situation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlCapone 7,678 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 poor Barry, always someone elses fault. Did you read the article? He admitted he was an idiot and shouldn't have did what he did, his criticism was directed towards the way the SFA handled the situation. Yes I read it, as i said he points the blame at the SFA when its all his own fault, I for one am glad that we no longer have his likes at our great club. Yeah the manager may have been at fault but as a captain and a proffesional footballer does he really need to be told that he shouldnt be drinking all through the night? If he behaved liked this for his country then he must he been like this for the Rangers. Hopefully now that he has gone his bad influence will no longer be felt around our club. I for one am looking forward to seeing a Rangers squad without him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperRangers 2 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Good words from Fergie. I have to laugh how some people like the above poster can go on about his bad infulence at the club ? Do they seriously think Smith wouldve put up with any shite if it was true ? Answers on the back on a postcard please. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Stars Bearette 1 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 SFA is a mess though ...that article reconfirmed it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlCapone 7,678 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Good words from Fergie. I have to laugh how some people like the above poster can go on about his bad infulence at the club ? Do they seriously think Smith wouldve put up with any shite if it was true ? Answers on the back on a postcard please. I would have said stripping him of his captaincy and transfer listing may suggest that there was 'some shite' going on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperRangers 2 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Good words from Fergie. I have to laugh how some people like the above poster can go on about his bad infulence at the club ? Do they seriously think Smith wouldve put up with any shite if it was true ? Answers on the back on a postcard please. I would have said stripping him of his captaincy and transfer listing may suggest that there was 'some shite' going on. Aye over his idiotic actions with the national team not with Rangers. 2+2 doesnt equal 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo. 952 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 poor Barry, always someone elses fault. Did you read the article? He admitted he was an idiot and shouldn't have did what he did, his criticism was directed towards the way the SFA handled the situation. Yes I read it, as i said he points the blame at the SFA when its all his own fault, I for one am glad that we no longer have his likes at our great club. Yeah the manager may have been at fault but as a captain and a proffesional footballer does he really need to be told that he shouldnt be drinking all through the night? If he behaved liked this for his country then he must he been like this for the Rangers. Hopefully now that he has gone his bad influence will no longer be felt around our club. I for one am looking forward to seeing a Rangers squad without him. No, he doesn't. He accepts full responsibilty for his actions. He questions the unprofessional way the SFA/Burley dealt with the issue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poetry_In_Blue 1,043 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 poor Barry, always someone elses fault. Did you read the article? He admitted he was an idiot and shouldn't have did what he did, his criticism was directed towards the way the SFA handled the situation. Yes I read it, as i said he points the blame at the SFA when its all his own fault, I for one am glad that we no longer have his likes at our great club. Yeah the manager may have been at fault but as a captain and a proffesional footballer does he really need to be told that he shouldnt be drinking all through the night? If he behaved liked this for his country then he must he been like this for the Rangers. Hopefully now that he has gone his bad influence will no longer be felt around our club. I for one am looking forward to seeing a Rangers squad without him. No he doesn't point the blame at the SFA with regards to what he did, what he is saying is that he can't believe the way the SFA handled the situation, by not speaking to him directly, sending a fax to the club etc he accepts full responsibility for what he did. All he got was the news release faxed to him, that isn't the way to treat any player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartmccallsfall 4 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 BARRY FERGUSON has revealed how he sent his family abroad to escape from the pressure that was bearing down after he shamed them with his late-night booze session while on Scotland duty. The former Rangers captain - now at Birmingham City after a £1million summer transfer - has spoken for the first time exclusively to the Evening Times about the events of March 28, at Cameron House on Loch Lomondside, which will live with him forever. Ferguson and team-mate Allan McGregor drank through the night after returning from Scotland's 3-0 defeat to Holland in a World Cup qualifier in Amsterdam. Just days later, they were photographed making V-sign gestures while sitting on the bench during the international game against Iceland. The duo were fined two weeks wages by Rangers and suspended for a fortnight and were given a life ban from playing for their country. There has been much speculation as to what went on at the squad hotel that night, but Ferguson today sets the record straight and also reveals his shame at the damage the whole episode caused to his mum and dad, wife Margaret and kids Connor, 14, nine-year-old Kyle and Cara, aged seven. "It's not a nice feeling when you know that something you have done - a big error of judgment - causes so much trouble and impacts on your family," Ferguson said. "They mean everything to me and it hurt me that I had let the family down. Margaret was upset and I let her and my mum and dad down. "So I sent them all away to Dubai for the first week of my suspension. I just wanted to be myself to try and come to terms with what I had just done, how stupid I had been and what I would do next to try and get back on track." Ferguson then revealed how he dealt with his suspension from Rangers by running around Motherwell's Strathclyde Park every morning. He added: "I read a lot of stuff that I had ran away abroad and was sunning myself as if nothing had happened. "The truth is that I went for a run every morning at 8am around Strathclyde Park. It's where I tried to clear my head and do my thinking. "There was an older couple who would see me every day on the same track and they would just nod and wonder what I was doing every day. "They had a wee Jack Russell dog and a few days into my runs he started going for me! Even the dogs were upset with me! "Seriously, though, I knew I had disgraced myself and a lot of people around me. That was hard, it was the worst two weeks of my life." There have been many whispers about what went on at Cameron House, so much so that Ferguson joked there must have been two or three' of him to get around the hotel and into the places he was said to have been. He wants to set the record straight in certain issues. He knows he was in the wrong and he knows the episode has tarnished his reputation. But he continued: "I want to set a few things straight. Like everyone else I've heard and been told about what I was supposed to have done. "First, I should have gone to my bed an hour or so earlier like the rest of the players. Allan and I have paid a price for that mistake and I deeply regret it. Secondly, the V-gestures were wrong. It happened, it shouldn't have and I look like an idiot for that. "But there was no roaming about the hotel bumping into guests, fighting in the bar or urinating in swimming pools like people have claimed. "The SFA laid on food and drinks for us when we got back from the airport in the early hours. Some of us stayed up - in the same bar, the whole time - and I should have known better and stopped before I did. "It's something that has tarnished me, but I wanted to at least put over my side of events. I hold my hands up, I got it wrong, big time but people make mistakes, and I need to learn from what happened." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralCartmanLee 313 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Again all fair comment from Fergie. Glad he has came out and said this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedWhiteBlue1872 407 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Im glad hes spoke out. I also think its fair comments he has made, he admits to his mistake.... as for the SFA they are fuckin clueless anybody who cant see this surely are then blind due to an agenda with Barry? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlCapone 7,678 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Im glad hes spoke out. I also think its fair comments he has made, he admits to his mistake.... as for the SFA they are fuckin clueless anybody who cant see this surely are then blind due to an agenda with Barry? Why would Gordon Smith have an agenda against Barry Ferguson? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralCartmanLee 313 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Im glad hes spoke out. I also think its fair comments he has made, he admits to his mistake.... as for the SFA they are fuckin clueless anybody who cant see this surely are then blind due to an agenda with Barry? Why would Gordon Smith have an agenda against Barry Ferguson? The guy didn't suggest he did......he said people like you do....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamteuchter 1 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 He comes across very well. Shame the papers print this out as Scotland is approaching two very important games. But thats the media i guess. A good read. I would love to hear what the others who didnt get their knuckles wrapped have to say about it. They should perhaps appologise to the Scapegoats Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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