The Celtic and Mourinho factor that gives Barry Ferguson a sinking Rangers feeling after latest calamity
The interim Rangers manager has been reacting to his side’s 2-1 Premiership defeat against Motherwell at Ibrox
Barry Ferguson has warned his Rangers flops they must buck up their ideas quickly or risk facing a Europa League hiding at the hands of Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce following their latest domestic calamity.
The Light Blues interim boss’ Ibrox return ended in defeat as Motherwell ran out 2-1 winners on Armed Forces’ Day in Govan. And with a trip to Turkey next up for the first leg of their last-16 tie, a frustrated Ferguson has demanded a significant improvement in performance level.
As was the case at Rugby Park on Wednesday, Rangers were left facing an uphill battle at the break after falling two goals behind within the opening 30 minutes. Luke Armstrong and Tom Sparrow had put the Steelmen in a commanding lead and while Cyriel Dessers halved the deficit in the second half, the hosts failed to salvage a share of the spoils after Dessers had another effort ruled out for offside.
Asked what the outcome will be if his side produces a similar display against Fenerbahce on Thursday, Ferguson replied: “It's clear they'll suffer a heavy defeat. I'm not going to sit here and try and kill people. That level of performance, certainly in the first half, is nowhere near the standards that are needed.
“It's my job now, in this short period of time, to just go and work my backside off to make sure this gets sorted. I spoke to them in the dressing room. They understand it. Listen, Rangers fans can accept you not playing well. What they can't accept is when your team get run over the top in the first 45 minutes. And I thought we did.
“Yeah, we created a few half-chances, but I said on Friday that when you're playing at Ibrox you need to be the dominant force. Motherwell dominated us. Did we dominate them in the second half? At times, but not enough.”
Ferguson continued: “A lot of these guys are playing for their future at the club. What do you think? There's always a change in manager. I don't know the contract situations. I don't know how long players have got. I'll probably, similar to you, I'll guess, but when a manager loses his job, you are playing for your future.
“When a new manager comes in, he wants to change quite a lot of things. I've got what I want to. I've got these players to work with. And I'm not going to sit here and criticise them. What they've given me in a short period of time, I've been on the grass maximum two hours with them. They've given me everything, they've listened.
“They've understood what way, in terms of tactics, we want to play. They understand, obviously, because I've spoken to them about what it means to play at a club like this. It's a privilege. It's a brilliant place to play your football.”