Barry Ferguson Column

[LiviGer 648]

Pedro Caixinha is a braver man than me.

This is a guy whose idea of having a bit of fun is picking a fight with a bull.

So if I was him I’d forget all about taking a seat in the stand at Celtic Park on Sunday and take his new job by the horns.

I might never have the guts to stand there waving a red rag at a 2000 lbs worth of angry steak with horns, but I have been lucky enough to experience what it feels like to be inside the Rangers dressing room on derby day. And I can put my hand on my heart and say there’s not a feeling like it in the world.

If Caixhina is an adrenaline junkie then he couldn’t have come to a better place. So having flown half way around the world to get here for it on time, why on earth would he want to be anywhere else but right in the middle of it?

 

Yes, I realise he’ll hardly have enough time to get to know the names of his players never mind get to know their strengths and weaknesses. And, true, the club might want to protect him by not throwing him in at the deep end.

But if Caixhina is the hardy b****** he appears to be then I don’t understand why he wouldn’t want to be on that touchline, having a ding-dong with Brendan Rodgers and experiencing first hand what managing Rangers is all about.

Trust me, it’s the perfect introduction for him to understand the scale of the job he has taken on.

You can’t describe it unless you’ve actually been in the thick of it. I hear a lot of people talking about how special this fixture is but unless you’ve actually been there in that tunnel, after living through a week of build up, you’ll never really understand how it feels.

It starts on the Monday, the moment you wake up in bed. By that afternoon you’re already consumed by it. People are talking to you and you nod your head but you’re not processing a word of it. Inside your mind you’re already bouncing out of that dressing room into a wall of noise.

You’re making the first tackle or winning the first header. For the rest of the week you can think about nothing else but the face of your opponent and what you’re going to do to him.

‘Don’t bother having a conversation with me mate. I’m not hearing a word you’re saying. I’m miles away. I might as well be living on planet Zogg.’

By the time you get into the dressing room on match day and the team is read out your head is ready to burst. I’d be up and down like a cat on a hit tin roof. It always felt like the longest hour and a half of my life.

I’d be prowling around, looking my team mates in the eye. ‘Are you f***** up for this? Aye right? Good.’

‘What are you sitting there all quiet for?’

‘I’m just concentrating,’

‘Aye alright, as long as you’re not s****ing yourself!’

That’s what it’s like. You’re trying to get the measure of people. Eyeballing them and making sure they are ready for what’s coming. Making them realise you’re all in the trenches together and that they all have to win their individual battles.

That’s where Caixhina should be on Sunday. If he’s a bullfighter then he should know he’s going to need another 11 of them out there on that pitch because make no mistake, Rangers are going to be right up against it.

In all my time as a player we never went into a derby with the odds stacked against us like this. Back then we’d turn them over one day and they’d give us a skelping back the next. You went into every game against them with no idea of what was going to happen next. You just couldn’t call it.

Barry is no stranger to the heat of an Old Firm derby

So I’ve absolutely no idea what it must feel like to be going to Celtic Park this weekend, as part of a team which everyone in Scotland appears to have written off. It’s fair to say not even the Rangers fans fancy their chances.

I look at the team and I only see one leader. If Kenny Miller was not there this season then I can’t begin to imagine where that team would be right now.

Yes, as captain, Lee Wallace also knows what it’s all about but, for me, Kenny is the guy who drives that dressing room. He’s the inspiration.

In my time I might have been wearing the armband but I knew I had six or seven other captains going into battle beside me.

It worries me that this Rangers side only has one or two leaders. It seems to me too many of these players have had a shock to the system this season. Looking back, I think they started to go into their shells the first time they crossed the city to visit Celtic back in September when they were on the wrong end of a 5-1 thrashing.

It was almost as if they realised on that day that they were out of their depths. And some of them have been sinking ever since.

Ally McCoist says Rangers are no further forward than when he left and even Walter Smith couldn't close gap without cash injection

But it’s time for them to stand up and be counted. Don’t avoid the papers or try to shut yourself off form the world. Read every article that’s written about you. Take in every word of it.

When Frank McAvennie says Celtic are going to put eight goals past you, photo copy the article and pin it up on every peg inside the dressing room. Make sure every one of your team mates reads.

Motivation? Inspiration? Call it what you want. But use it to your advantage.

Also, remember how horrible it felt the last time you went to Celtic Park. Ask yourself if you want to go through all that again. Can you really face another week of humiliation?

If the answer is yes then you’re at the wrong club. If it’s not, then what are you prepared to do about it?

Rangers need to stop Sinclair, Brown and Dembele

The game plan should be simple enough. Stick a sock in the mouth of Scott Brown, Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair. Get up against them and don’t give them a minute’s peace. Prove that you can neutralise their three best players and then see how Celtic handle it.

Watch what St Mirren did to them at the weekend and try to do the same things. The Celtic fans reacted badly to that at the weekend and they’ll turn up on Sunday expecting an absolute rout. The longer you frustrate them, the better your chances.

PEDRO CAIXINHA: RANGERS PRESS CONFERENCES WILL BECOME A BIT MORE LIVELY

The last thing you want is let them get on top of you and score an early goal because then the roof could come crashing down on top of you. I’ve been there and it’s a bad place to be.

But don’t be scared by it. Embrace it. Remember that Celtic’s players are only human beings. Yes, they’ve had a great season and I respect them for it. The league table doesn’t lie.

But this is an Old Firm game. This isn’t something to fear - it’s an opportunity to stop Celtic’s run. To show the watching world that they deserve to wear that shirt. To shut everyone up.

What’s the point in going there thinking you’re already beaten? Don’t turn up if that’s the way you feel.

It’s time for Rangers to show that they are ready to put up a fight again. And the bullfighter should be leading them into battle.

 

 

Not sure I agree with him wanting Caixinha in the dugout for Sunday but what I did find interesting was him explaining what it was like in the dressing room for him before Old Firm Games. That is what we need in our side, someone with fire in their belly and can give this team a push! I just hope that come Sunday we are well up for this. We have been written off by everyone so now would be the perfect opportunity to shut them up! Its going to be incredibly tough but lets hope the players roll the sleeves up and get stuck in.

[.Williamson. 82,206]

I disagree about throwing Pedro in at this stage.

Im hoping that the team knowing he's watching on will give them the lift to maybe nick something from this game.

[NeoGeo7 10,515]

3 minutes ago, LiviGer said:

Pedro Caixinha is a braver man than me.

This is a guy whose idea of having a bit of fun is picking a fight with a bull.

So if I was him I’d forget all about taking a seat in the stand at Celtic Park on Sunday and take his new job by the horns.

I might never have the guts to stand there waving a red rag at a 2000 lbs worth of angry steak with horns, but I have been lucky enough to experience what it feels like to be inside the Rangers dressing room on derby day. And I can put my hand on my heart and say there’s not a feeling like it in the world.

If Caixhina is an adrenaline junkie then he couldn’t have come to a better place. So having flown half way around the world to get here for it on time, why on earth would he want to be anywhere else but right in the middle of it?

 

Yes, I realise he’ll hardly have enough time to get to know the names of his players never mind get to know their strengths and weaknesses. And, true, the club might want to protect him by not throwing him in at the deep end.

But if Caixhina is the hardy b****** he appears to be then I don’t understand why he wouldn’t want to be on that touchline, having a ding-dong with Brendan Rodgers and experiencing first hand what managing Rangers is all about.

Trust me, it’s the perfect introduction for him to understand the scale of the job he has taken on.

You can’t describe it unless you’ve actually been in the thick of it. I hear a lot of people talking about how special this fixture is but unless you’ve actually been there in that tunnel, after living through a week of build up, you’ll never really understand how it feels.

It starts on the Monday, the moment you wake up in bed. By that afternoon you’re already consumed by it. People are talking to you and you nod your head but you’re not processing a word of it. Inside your mind you’re already bouncing out of that dressing room into a wall of noise.

You’re making the first tackle or winning the first header. For the rest of the week you can think about nothing else but the face of your opponent and what you’re going to do to him.

‘Don’t bother having a conversation with me mate. I’m not hearing a word you’re saying. I’m miles away. I might as well be living on planet Zogg.’

By the time you get into the dressing room on match day and the team is read out your head is ready to burst. I’d be up and down like a cat on a hit tin roof. It always felt like the longest hour and a half of my life.

I’d be prowling around, looking my team mates in the eye. ‘Are you f***** up for this? Aye right? Good.’

‘What are you sitting there all quiet for?’

‘I’m just concentrating,’

‘Aye alright, as long as you’re not s****ing yourself!’

That’s what it’s like. You’re trying to get the measure of people. Eyeballing them and making sure they are ready for what’s coming. Making them realise you’re all in the trenches together and that they all have to win their individual battles.

That’s where Caixhina should be on Sunday. If he’s a bullfighter then he should know he’s going to need another 11 of them out there on that pitch because make no mistake, Rangers are going to be right up against it.

In all my time as a player we never went into a derby with the odds stacked against us like this. Back then we’d turn them over one day and they’d give us a skelping back the next. You went into every game against them with no idea of what was going to happen next. You just couldn’t call it.

Barry is no stranger to the heat of an Old Firm derby

So I’ve absolutely no idea what it must feel like to be going to Celtic Park this weekend, as part of a team which everyone in Scotland appears to have written off. It’s fair to say not even the Rangers fans fancy their chances.

I look at the team and I only see one leader. If Kenny Miller was not there this season then I can’t begin to imagine where that team would be right now.

Yes, as captain, Lee Wallace also knows what it’s all about but, for me, Kenny is the guy who drives that dressing room. He’s the inspiration.

In my time I might have been wearing the armband but I knew I had six or seven other captains going into battle beside me.

It worries me that this Rangers side only has one or two leaders. It seems to me too many of these players have had a shock to the system this season. Looking back, I think they started to go into their shells the first time they crossed the city to visit Celtic back in September when they were on the wrong end of a 5-1 thrashing.

It was almost as if they realised on that day that they were out of their depths. And some of them have been sinking ever since.

Ally McCoist says Rangers are no further forward than when he left and even Walter Smith couldn't close gap without cash injection

But it’s time for them to stand up and be counted. Don’t avoid the papers or try to shut yourself off form the world. Read every article that’s written about you. Take in every word of it.

When Frank McAvennie says Celtic are going to put eight goals past you, photo copy the article and pin it up on every peg inside the dressing room. Make sure every one of your team mates reads.

Motivation? Inspiration? Call it what you want. But use it to your advantage.

Also, remember how horrible it felt the last time you went to Celtic Park. Ask yourself if you want to go through all that again. Can you really face another week of humiliation?

If the answer is yes then you’re at the wrong club. If it’s not, then what are you prepared to do about it?

Rangers need to stop Sinclair, Brown and Dembele

The game plan should be simple enough. Stick a sock in the mouth of Scott Brown, Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair. Get up against them and don’t give them a minute’s peace. Prove that you can neutralise their three best players and then see how Celtic handle it.

Watch what St Mirren did to them at the weekend and try to do the same things. The Celtic fans reacted badly to that at the weekend and they’ll turn up on Sunday expecting an absolute rout. The longer you frustrate them, the better your chances.

PEDRO CAIXINHA: RANGERS PRESS CONFERENCES WILL BECOME A BIT MORE LIVELY

The last thing you want is let them get on top of you and score an early goal because then the roof could come crashing down on top of you. I’ve been there and it’s a bad place to be.

But don’t be scared by it. Embrace it. Remember that Celtic’s players are only human beings. Yes, they’ve had a great season and I respect them for it. The league table doesn’t lie.

But this is an Old Firm game. This isn’t something to fear - it’s an opportunity to stop Celtic’s run. To show the watching world that they deserve to wear that shirt. To shut everyone up.

What’s the point in going there thinking you’re already beaten? Don’t turn up if that’s the way you feel.

It’s time for Rangers to show that they are ready to put up a fight again. And the bullfighter should be leading them into battle.

 

 

Not sure I agree with him wanting Caixinha in the dugout for Sunday but what I did find interesting was him explaining what it was like in the dressing room for him before Old Firm Games. That is what we need in our side, someone with fire in their belly and can give this team a push! I just hope that come Sunday we are well up for this. We have been written off by everyone so now would be the perfect opportunity to shut them up! Its going to be incredibly tough but lets hope the players roll the sleeves up and get stuck in.

Quite clearly doing a little audition for himself for assistants job.

[LiviGer 648]

Just now, NeoGeo7 said:

Quite clearly doing a little audition for himself for assistants job.

Wouldn't surprise me if he was or if he got it. 

[.Williamson. 82,206]

I'd be fine with Barry getting the assistant job in all honesty. 

I'd be entirely against him continuing on as manager from that point though, but as nothing more than an assistant I could deal with it.

[buster. 1,114]

Forgive us if we don't take your or your Daily Record ghost-writer's judgement calls very seriously, Barry !

Murty has prepared and drilled the team this week and should obviously take the players he knows for the game. Pedro can add his input prior to the game without being in the dug-out.

 

[K.A.I 36,183]

He's so full of shit Murty has been in charge for a month so will have a better idea of the players than Pedro ever will in 24 hours and maybe not even as much as a training session 

why are some of our best players absolute fuds in the media etc? I bet guys like Laudrup and Albertz and Gio could get paid to pen this shite but they wouldn't dare 

[ianferguson 2,619]

8 minutes ago, .Williamson. said:

I disagree about throwing Pedro in at this stage.

Im hoping that the team knowing he's watching on will give them the lift to maybe nick something from this game.

Neither does Barry think Pedro is good to go at the girodome , but he's got a column to write. 

[NeoGeo7 10,515]

2 minutes ago, LiviGer said:

Wouldn't surprise me if he was or if he got it. 

I think he's definitely a contender, not why he left Clyde though, but circumstances as they are and knowing Caixinha has always had an assistant that knows the club I reckon it'll either be Ferguson (138 games as a manager) or Kenny Miller gets a new contract as assistant/player.

It's got to be someone that gets us and knows what we are about and for me Ferguson would actually do this, given he's not in direct control it might be a decent shout.

[Scottyarf37 963]

Fire Barry in for the team talk'!'

[mafia32 93]

2 minutes ago, .Williamson. said:

I'd be fine with Barry getting the assistant job in all honesty. 

I'd be entirely against him continuing on as manager from that point though, but as nothing more than an assistant I could deal with it.

We could do a lot worse, even as some part of the coaching team with millar and murty

 

[buster. 1,114]

6 minutes ago, .Williamson. said:

I'd be fine with Barry getting the assistant job in all honesty. 

I'd be entirely against him continuing on as manager from that point though, but as nothing more than an assistant I could deal with it.

Ferguson was a great player but he couldn't cut management in the 4th tier of Scottish football.

His influence and decision-making whilst in positions of authority have sometimes been questionable, even toxic. He was stripped of the captaincy at Ibrox, twice,

Stay with Radio Scotland and the Daily Record, Barry and help them peddle their poison.

[NeoGeo7 10,515]

2 minutes ago, .Williamson. said:

I'd be fine with Barry getting the assistant job in all honesty. 

I'd be entirely against him continuing on as manager from that point though, but as nothing more than an assistant I could deal with it.

Yup, ex player with a hero like status getting the job just because he's second in line, not for me either.

Ferguson has had 138 games in management 20 at Blackpool P20, W3, D5 and L12, and at Clyde in our lowest tier P118, W46, D22, L50

He's had experience but it doesn't suggest he should ever get the top job. It's his ambition but under no circumstances should we be fulfilling it just because he was a great player for us.

[jackrfc95 4,255]

1 minute ago, buster. said:

Ferguson was a great player but he couldn't cut management in the 4th tier of Scottish football.

His influence and decision-making whilst in positions of authority have sometimes been questionable, even toxic. He was stripped of the captaincy at Ibrox twice,

Stay with Radio Scotland and the Daily Record, Barry and help them peddle their poison.

To be fair I'm not sure how much impact any coach could make on part time players training 2 nights a week.

[Trooblue 1,973]

If this is Ferguson asking for a job I hope he is totally ignored.  There is absolutely nothing in his managerial/coaching career that qualifies him for a job at Ibrox.  Beyond that, he didn't exactly play nicely the last time we had a foreign coach at the club, and I would bet that he would lose no time in stirring things behind the scenes if he came in this time.  The 'column' is, of course, written by someone else, with Ferguson just sitting there coming out with one-liners to be strung together into something semi-coherent by a 'journalist'.  The sooner we lose this fixation with the 'good old Rangers men' the better. 

[Jack The Flipper 5,936]

I hope he's nowhere near our club, he was a very good player for us and an ok captain - that's it.

Shite ex manager who writes for a shite newspaper. I also get the feeling if he was a bit more professional plg would have faired better. I'm not saying plg would have been a great success. I'm saying the way Ferguson acted at the time is not a good sign he'd be a good assistant - good player attitude maybe, but that's different.

[buster. 1,114]

Just now, jackrfc95 said:

To be fair I'm not sure how much impact any coach could make on part time players training 2 nights a week.

Same for most of the other teams in that league.

Bottomline is that he failed at Clyde.

[Jack The Flipper 5,936]

7 minutes ago, FlashHarryForrester said:

Fire Barry in for the team talk'!'

Amazing, some folk really are only a different planet on here.

[Trooblue 1,973]

1 minute ago, Jack The Flipper said:

I hope he's nowhere near our club, he was a very good player for us and an ok captain - that's it.

Shite ex manager who writes for a shite newspaper. I also get the feeling if he was a bit more professional plg would have faired better. I'm not saying plg would have been a great success. I'm saying the way Ferguson acted at the time is not a good sign he'd be a good assistant - good player attitude maybe, but that's different.

This. Absolutely. 

[plumbGER 24,518]

‘Don’t bother having a conversation with me mate. I’m not hearing a word you’re saying. I’m miles away. I might as well be living on planet Zogg.’

 

By the sounds of things Barry is living on planet Zogg, no way should we throw the new guy in at the deep end?

Remember Senderos Barry?

[NeoGeo7 10,515]

1 minute ago, Jack The Flipper said:

I hope he's nowhere near our club, he was a very good player for us and an ok captain - that's it.

Shite ex manager who writes for a shite newspaper. I also get the feeling if he was a bit more professional plg would have faired better. I'm not saying plg would have been a great success. I'm saying the way Ferguson acted at the time is not a good sign he'd be a good assistant - good player attitude maybe, but that's different.

The scenes when Ferguson leads a revolt against Caixinha, chases him out the club and takes the top job 

Seriously though, good point on the PLG. We are getting a new manager bedded in who needs to understand the club but not be bullied into working someone else's way.

[Alec87 331]

Loved his insight to the build up. How many in the team now are going through the same thing ?

Not too many 

[PRW. 5,631]

Take out the bit about putting Pedro in to the dugout and it'd be an article.

This quote almost makes me want him as assistsant but if he thinks putting a foreign manager in the dugout vs the tarriers, when he will only have had 1 day with the players, then he canny be trusted. 

By the time you get into the dressing room on match day and the team is read out your head is ready to burst. I’d be up and down like a cat on a hit tin roof. It always felt like the longest hour and a half of my life.

I’d be prowling around, looking my team mates in the eye. ‘Are you f***** up for this? Aye right? Good.’

‘What are you sitting there all quiet for?’

‘I’m just concentrating,’

‘Aye alright, as long as you’re not s****ing yourself!’

That’s what it’s like. You’re trying to get the measure of people. Eyeballing them and making sure they are ready for what’s coming. Making them realise you’re all in the trenches together and that they all have to win their individual battles.

[Jack The Flipper 5,936]

Just now, NeoGeo7 said:

The scenes when Ferguson leads a revolt against Caixinha, chases him out the club and takes the top job 

Seriously though, good point on the PLG. We are getting a new manager bedded in who needs to understand the club but not be bullied into working someone else's way.

Look at it this way - Pedro is not even in Scotland and Ferguson is telling him what he should do. In honesty, I think most of us would agree it's the wrong and disrespectful thing to do.

Folk want him as assistant though 

[.Williamson. 82,206]

6 minutes ago, Jack The Flipper said:

I hope he's nowhere near our club, he was a very good player for us and an ok captain - that's it.

Shite ex manager who writes for a shite newspaper. I also get the feeling if he was a bit more professional plg would have faired better. I'm not saying plg would have been a great success. I'm saying the way Ferguson acted at the time is not a good sign he'd be a good assistant - good player attitude maybe, but that's different.

To be fair mate, at the time I wanted PLG gone and so did nearly everyone else I know