Barry Ferguson: No regrets on Paul Le Guen fall-out

[wully 47,579]

Former skipper Barry Ferguson insists he would "shake hands" with his former Rangers manager Paul Le Guen if they were to meet again.

The Frenchman ended a brief reign at Ibrox just a few days after stripping Ferguson of the captaincy.

Le Guen claimed the midfielder was undermining him in the dressing room.

But Ferguson told BBC Scotland: "I respected him as a person and as a manager. I never went over his head or behind his back."

Le Guen arrived in Glasgow in the summer of 2006 after successful spells with Rennes and Lyon but was in charge at Ibrox for just seven months.

Ferguson said he had "no regrets" over the fall-out, revealing that he had expressed his frustration after a loss at Inverness Caley Thistle, adding "there was no fisty-cuffs, no shouting".

"Inverness bullied us that day," he recalled on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "We went 1-0 up and they ended up winning 2-1.

"At that stage we'd had a couple of bad results, home and away. Paul Le Guen came into the dressing room and said 'don't worry, it'll be all right if we all stick together'.

"It was about the sixth or seventh time we'd had a difficult result and I'd just had enough.

"I said 'we're Rangers and I got brought up with winning as the only thing - a defeat is never acceptable'.

"I never had an argument with him. I said a couple of things - maybe five or 10 seconds - and he just looked at me.

"As captain, I thought I had to say something, I was sitting down. A few of the other guys had a word to say.

"I never once undermined him. There's a limit as a captain and as a player."

Following Le Guen's departure, Ferguson was reinstated as captain by Walter Smith and led Rangers to a cup double and the Uefa Cup final in the following season.

However, he would once again lose the captaincy at Rangers in April 2009, following misconduct while on Scotland duty.

He left for Birmingham at the end of the season and declined a later approach to add to his 45 international caps.

"That's the only thing in football - if I could turn back the clock - I would," said Ferguson of the drinking session after defeat by the Netherlands and making V-signs on the bench a few days later against Iceland.

"It was immature, just silly. I don't know what I was doing. I was on a different planet.

"To captain your country is the ultimate (honour) and I just messed it up - I deserved everything I got."

As well as bringing an end to his Scotland career, Smith gave him a two-week club suspension.

"I knew that was it," Ferguson explained. "I needed to go away and reinvent myself. I needed to give myself a shake and grow up.

"I sent the family away on holiday because I needed a long, hard look at myself. I spent a week locked in the house.

"A lot of clubs wanted me at the time but after what happened with Scotland they were humming and hawing and (then Birmingham boss) Alex McLeish took a gamble.

"He was a manager I had worked with before and had success with but he wasn't completely sure.

"He gave me a chance and I had a great time at Birmingham. I knew I had to prove that I could still play at the highest level."

Ferguson played 431 games in two spells at Rangers, returning in 2005 after 18 months with Blackburn Rovers.

He admits the pull of his old team was too much to resist but thinks it may have been best to stick it out in England.

"I struggled in a new environment then I shattered my kneecap and was out for seven months," Ferguson said of his time at Ewood Park.

"But I came back and was playing really well, I was captain. (Manager) Graeme Souness left to go to Newcastle and wanted to take me there and there was another couple of clubs who had enquired.

"Then I got a call from Rangers and that was me. I didn't want to talk to anybody else.

"Looking back, I should have stayed to make a better career for myself, maybe get a chance with a top six, top eight team."

[The Godfather 72,003]

"Then I got a call from Rangers and that was me. I didn't want to talk to anybody else.

"Looking back, I should have stayed to make a better career for myself, maybe get a chance with a top six, top eight team."

You were not good enough for a top 6 or 8 team at that point.

[PromDeAnglais 5,498]

Also seen him in another article claiming "we'll win the league under Ally"

Good player, not the sharpest tool in the shed though.

[TMB 14,167]

Fuck up, Barry.

[King Jela 20,371]

"I have no regrets because I got my own way" would have been a better and more apt headline.

[King Jela 20,371]

Also seen him in another article claiming "we'll win the league under Ally"

Good player, not the sharpest tool in the shed though.

If you're a Clyde player and don't take inspiration from your manager spending every free minute he has writing/talking about a different club then there's something seriously wrong with you.

He should fuck up and mind his own business.

[The Godfather 72,003]

I wonder if Barry would have been saying the same stuff just now since Ally's team are losing games and playing utter shite?

I mean he's telling everyone in his wee columns that McCoist needs time and will come out on top...

Why not the same for PLG Barry?

Aye because it didn't suit YOU.

[bornabear 6,205]

The headline should read, "how I put the knife in"

[Zulu 981]

Who the fuck cares what he has to say

[BigAmo'sThighs 848]

No point bringing the Paul Le Guen Pros and Cons into it again, but I like Ferguson, as a player he was always willing to grab the game by the scruff and dictate play. As a Manager and mouthpiece, he's starting to get on my tits.

I'd have a lot more respect for you ferguson if you'd stand up to the regime now, tell it like it is and admit the team is rank, the coaching is rank, and the professionalism is non existent. Le Guen had his faults, but he was a decent man, left without a pay off and tried to implement something new at our club. Might have worked if given time, might have failed. 7 months is nothing, we've had three - four years of rank football and bad resultsunder the current set up.

[Smile 26,610]

Ferguson great player Le Guen coward with no backbone.

[The Godfather 72,003]

No point bringing the Paul Le Guen Pros and Cons into it again, but I like Ferguson, as a player he was always willing to grab the game by the scruff and dictate play. As a Manager and mouthpiece, he's starting to get on my tits.

I'd have a lot more respect for you ferguson if you'd stand up to the regime now, tell it like it is and admit the team is rank, the coaching is rank, and the professionalism is non existent. Le Guen had his faults, but he was a decent man, left without a pay off and tried to implement something new at our club. Might have worked if given time, might have failed. 7 months is nothing, we've had three - four years of rank football and bad resultsunder the current set up.

Spot on.

If PLG had been a Rangers man I wonder how much time he would have been given?

Seems if you have no ties to the club then you are hounded out at the first sign of trouble.

McCoist blew Europe twice, blew a 15 point lead at the top of SPL and had us out of all the cups before Admin hit.

He then offered 3 more years of utter shite football, no progress on the field and more red neck results than I care to remember.

But aye "he's a pyoor Rangers man so he is, gie him time n it will aw come good"

Fuck up Barry.

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,572]

Fuck off and do one fergie

[cushynumber 25,178]

He is a typical footballer - always looking at others to blame when it goes wrong. He was centre mid when Inverness "bullied" the team...what was he doing on the park to allow that?

[Rfc#1. 1,877]

Who cares,move on Barry,we have.

[BigAmo'sThighs 848]

Spot on.

If PLG had been a Rangers man I wonder how much time he would have been given?

Seems if you have no ties to the club then you are hounded out at the first sign of trouble.

McCoist blew Europe twice, blew a 15 point lead at the top of SPL and had us out of all the cups before Admin hit.

He then offered 3 more years of utter shite football, no progress on the field and more red neck results than I care to remember.

But aye "he's a pyoor Rangers man so he is, gie him time n it will aw come good"

Fuck up Barry.

That first game away to Motherwell was the best I've seen a Rangers team play since Advocaat, think we won 2-0 or 2-1, Solenko (sp) scored, we pressed all over the park and Motherwell never got near us. There where some great performances in Europe as well. However, the league form was never great and the preformances started to slip, we struggled with consistency. It feels like a lifetime ago, can't really recall the ins and outs of it, but I seem to remember some horrible goalkeeping errors as we chucked a lead or went down one nil and never put the effort in to turn it around. Le Guen has to shoulder the blame for some this and I seem to recall many an interview when he did, he'd also say we're working on it and it was close to how he wanted it to be. Contrast to now, McCoist has yet to take the blame for any of the countless and much more embarassing defeats.

Le Guen wasn't a saviour, he had a few faults of his own, the Svenson signing for example. I genuinely just think he misjudged how the Scottish game was, hard, fast and solid. He was building a team that would have suited a European league.

If fergie wasn't happy with the implentation of a new, european style of football, what the fuck is he doing sticking up for Ally and his Stone Age tactics?

[bombaybadboy08 15,660]

I don't see what's different from now, apart from the fact it's more embarrassing at the moment.

"At that stage we'd had a couple of bad results, home and away. Paul Le Guen came into the dressing room and said 'don't worry, it'll be all right if we all stick together'.

"It was about the sixth or seventh time we'd had a difficult result and I'd just had enough.

"I said 'we're Rangers and I got brought up with winning as the only thing - a defeat is never acceptable'.

Hypocrite.

[mabawsa 888]

No point bringing the Paul Le Guen Pros and Cons into it again, but I like Ferguson, as a player he was always willing to grab the game by the scruff and dictate play. As a Manager and mouthpiece, he's starting to get on my tits.

I'd have a lot more respect for you ferguson if you'd stand up to the regime now, tell it like it is and admit the team is rank, the coaching is rank, and the professionalism is non existent. Le Guen had his faults, but he was a decent man, left without a pay off and tried to implement something new at our club. Might have worked if given time, might have failed. 7 months is nothing, we've had three - four years of rank football and bad resultsunder the current set up.

Oh...and tell him to make a decent contribution to the same club that funded his extravagant pay via the EBT scheme. Has he paid back that loan per chance? Another that was a pure Rangers man = gravy train.

[Smile 26,610]

Oh...and tell him to make a decent contribution to the same club that funded his extravagant pay via the EBT scheme. Has he paid back that loan per chance? Another that was a pure Rangers man = gravy train.

Sounds very taigy why would he payback on a scheme that was legal at the time.

[Courtyard Bear 41,357]

Ex footballer talking pish, he'll be on Clyde next.

[The Godfather 72,003]

I don't see what's different from now, apart from the fact it's more embarrassing at the moment.

"At that stage we'd had a couple of bad results, home and away. Paul Le Guen came into the dressing room and said 'don't worry, it'll be all right if we all stick together'.

"It was about the sixth or seventh time we'd had a difficult result and I'd just had enough.

"I said 'we're Rangers and I got brought up with winning as the only thing - a defeat is never acceptable'.

Hypocrite.

It's nothng more than the thinking a former Ranger deserves more time and excuses than someone who didn't play for us before.

It's actually laughable that folk are saying this and can't see how pathetic and moronic it sounds.

[Deep Blue Something 14]

That was then. This is now. Fergie has gone sideways.

If I was at Clyde I'd be getting rather miffed that my manager spent most of his time writing about another SPFL club.

[bombaybadboy08 15,660]

It's nothng more than the thinking a former Ranger deserves more time and excuses than someone who didn't play for us before.

It's actually laughable that folk are saying this and can't see how pathetic and moronic it sounds.

Yep, although Ally has had 3 years, the above quote was for a guy in his first season

[NixonRFC 1,345]

I was at Inverness that night, pretty sure it was Rankin that scored a late winner, I honest to fuck wanted Le Guen to succeed but almost every single Rangers fan at the game that night was massively pissed off, it was a horrible night around the Christmas week I think and iys a fuck off 7/8 hour round journey, it might have been the exuberance of youth but I'd have had a thing or two to say to Bear that night who told me it would be all OK, we were out the Title race by Halloween, we were a total soft touch, we had just come off a 3rd place finish and could see it going that way again, I can't say I fully disagree with Ferguson taking issue with PLG's assessment that night, no-one should be accepting those type of weak performances

[The Godfather 72,003]

I was at Inverness that night, pretty sure it was Rankin that scored a late winner, I honest to fuck wanted Le Guen to succeed but almost every single Rangers fan at the game that night was massively pissed off, it was a horrible night around the Christmas week I think and iys a fuck off 7/8 hour round journey, it might have been the exuberance of youth but I'd have had a thing or two to say to Bear that night who told me it would be all OK, we were out the Title race by Halloween, we were a total soft touch, we had just come off a 3rd place finish and could see it going that way again, I can't say I fully disagree with Ferguson taking issue with PLG's assessment that night, no-one should be accepting those type of weak performances

We have been giving worse and weaker performances for more than 3 years under McCoist.

Why should he be treated any different as a manager than PLG? Why does he get a easy ride when the club is nosediving in every aspect?

The thing is Barry thinks it was right what happened to PLG while the situation is near identical in that we have a manager struggling and losing games we shouldn't be losing but because he is 'a Ranger' he should be immune to what PLG got?

It's laughable from him and makes him look like an utter tit.