Rangers no longer 'feared' by opposition teams as Barry Ferguson demands drastic Ibrox culture change
The furious Rangers caretaker boss watched his side fail to deliver on his first-post split challenge following a 2-2 draw with St Mirren
Barry Ferguson had challenged his Rangers squad to collect 15 points from their remaining five post-split fixtures - but the Ibrox caretaker boss was left livid after watching his side twice squander a lead in the 2-2 draw with St Mirren in Paisley.
After news filtered through that rivals Celtic had been crowned Premiership champions for a fourth consecutive season earlier in the day, the Light Blues set about trying to halt their winless run stretching four games. But that was extended to five at the SMiSA Stadium with goals from Cyriel Dessers and Nicolas Raskin cancelled out by Mark O’Hara initially before Conor McMenamin earned the Buddies a share of the spoils.
It marks the 14th time Rangers have dropped points in 34 league matches this term and led an irate Ferguson to confess that opposition teams no longer “fear” playing them. He insisted his players can be bullied too easily and suggests whoever gets the job on a permanent basis must set about changing the culture behind the scenes at the club.
“The issue I've got is people don't fear playing Rangers now,” Ferguson conceded. “Whether that's at home or away, they enjoy coming to Ibrox. And then when you go away from home, teams look to see if they can bully you, run hard at you and get in about you.
“And that's something, again, that needs to change going forward. You need to build a strong team domestically. And I'm sure whoever takes the job will hopefully totally understand that.
Ferguson continued: “I never got the three points which I had demanded. You can’t come to a place like St Mirren, lead the game twice and give a couple of sloppy goals away. That's exactly what we've done and that's been our Achilles heel, not just since I've come in, that's been the Achilles heel here for a long time. So yeah, overall I’m really disappointed.
“When you spend a week sitting down individually and then collectively and you work on things and you show them video stuff, what you're wanting the team to do. And they don't carry it out at times, it's frustrating. When we carried it out, we scored two goals, we played the ball quickly, two or three touch.
“And then at times we go back to the way it was a few months ago: pedestrian, slow and that's not the way that I want my team to play, it's certainly not the way that we train. And then when we go that way, that allows St Mirren back into the game.”
Rangers now shift their focus on to next weekend’s final Old Firm showdown of the season at Ibrox - and Ferguson has warned his players they must buck up their ideas quickly.
“Every game you play for Rangers should mean something,” he stated. “Listen, it's easy to get up for those (big) games. But every game you cross that white line when you're representing this club, it should mean everything to you.
“We'll have a day off and then we'll get back to work. One thing is for certain, I'll be coming in with my sleeves rolled up and ready to go, so will my staff. And the players better be too.”