The roll and sausage Rangers trick that Russell Martin should've used in greasy alternative to Loch Lomond 'skinny dip'
Ibrox legend Barry Ferguson has revealed what he’d have done instead of taking the first-team squad ‘skinny dipping’
Rangers hero Barry Ferguson joked he would rather have had his squad working hard on the training pitch than taking players “skinny dipping” in Loch Lomond.
In a bid to arrest their dramatic slump, under-pressure Ibrox boss Russell Martin took his struggling side on a team bonding trip on Monday in which they went wild swimming and a hike up Conic Hill instead of getting straight back out on the training pitch to right the wrongs at their Auchenhowie complex.
It was later confirmed the Englishman had arranged the ‘away day’ as he clings on to his job by a thread following crisis heart-to-heart talks with US-based chairman Andrew Cavenagh on Sunday evening.
The Light Blues suffered their latest Premiership defeat on Saturday, going down 2-0 to a Lawrence Shankland-inspired Hearts.
Barry Ferguson reveals what he’d have done instead of ‘skinny dipping’
But Ferguson, who had a short spell as interim manager at the end of last season, told the Go Radio Football show that he didn’t see the point of the day trip.
“Look managers have all got different ways, maybe to take them out of the environment for the day,” he said. “But for me, I would be on the training pitch and making sure I am getting a team ready to rock on the Saturday in the quarter-finals against Hibs.
“It’s a bit cold for wild swimming. How it’s changed, if we had a few bad games, the manager would come in and say right we’re going for a wee walk. We’d go for a doubler - a sausage and bacon roll - we’d just go up to a cafe up Paisley Road West. It’s all changed, now they’re going skinny dipping.”
Timing of Russell Martin’s Rangers day trip to Loch Lomond couldn’t be worse
Meanwhile, ex-Rangers star Andy Halliday admits he understood why Martin took his players for a change of scenery. However, he reckons it will do little to appease a furious fanbase, who are already calling for him to resign.
Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard last night, Halliday believes the timing of the day trip couldn’t have been worse.
He said: “I’ve been part of football clubs when your team is in disarray and you go paint-balling on a Monday. I’ve been on three paint-balling trips off the back of horrendous performances and results.
“It seems to me that he’s just trying to find some sort of way to bring the group together. For me personally I have never been a fan of it and the best way to get back on the saddle is by righting the wrongs on the training pitch.
“I certainly don’t think it is going to appease Rangers fans shall well say. I don’t think it’s great timing when he says to the fans ‘you don’t see us during the week’, insinuating that his team are brilliant in training and are expecting to see it in games soon. They have seen them during the week and its in Conic Hill.”