A manager can only do so much once the 11 players step onto the pitch, and Barry Ferguson has found this out the hard way in charge of Rangers.
A game plan extends beyond picking the team and setting them up in a formation and changing it every game or in game shouldn’t be seen as a positive.
Yes, a team has to be flexible, but Rangers changed system on a number of occasions against Athletic Club as Ferguson grew more and more desperate to make something happen.
When Philippe Clement was Rangers manager, he had to make changes at half-time on an almost weekly basis, a trend that Ferguson has followed.
The officials played their part in Rangers defeat to Athletic, however, the man in charge was more of a hindrance than a help as these five crucial errors show.
Barry Ferguson picked the wrong Rangers team to start
A quick look at the comments under the team selection on X tells its own story.
Nobody was happy with the team that Ferguson picked.
Because of his selection, as soon as Ridvan Yilmaz went down injured, it caused panic on the bench, even though he was just back in training and has previous for breaking down.
This is when things went from bad to worse.
Ferguson gets first substitute wrong and Rangers lose shape
The obvious substitution would have improved Rangers. Ferguson brought on Connor Barron, which made the midfield more defensive, but he also moved Jefte to left centre-half and Mohamed Diomande to left-back.
Had he brought on or started Clinton Nsiala instead, James Tavernier would have been in his best position, the back three would be better balanced and there would have been no disruption to the midfield.
To make matters worse, Nsiala was, arguably, Rangers best player in the second half.
Cyriel Dessers was the wrong choice for Rangers’ game plan
Ferguson wanted more control of the ball, which made the inclusion of Cyriel Dessers all the more surprising.
Nicolas Raskin could be seen remonstrating with the Rangers No.9 on a number of occasions for not competing for the ball, being on his heels, and not helping out his overworked midfield.
Dessers is many things, but a striker who is known for his good first touch and pinning defenders he is not.
At half-time, Ferguson did the right thing by finally bringing on Nsiala, but he made a mistake in taking off Ianis Hagi.
If he wanted control, he should have kept one of his players who are capable of looking after the ball.
The problem was that Barron had only just been brought on and Raskin or Diomande were never going to be taken off.
Again, a mistake was compounded by another mistake as things went from bad to worse for Ferguson.
Ferguson refused to substitute Cyriel Dessers
Dessers stayed on the pitch for 90 minutes.
He had the least touches of any outfield player with only 18, made nine accurate passes, had no shots, created no chances and had one touch in the Athletic box when he sclaffed a late attempt at goal.
Danilo didn’t get on until the 84th minute, the player with the best goals contribution per minute ratio in the Scottish Premiership.
What is the point of having three strikers, especially with one who cost Rangers £6m sitting on the bench when the team needs a goal and a bit of movement?
Ferguson seems to have some sort of blind spot with Dessers, but every Rangers fan has seen this show before.
There is no way of proving that Igamane or Danilo would have had more of an impact, however, they have both replaced Dessers in games, played at least an hour less in the same game and touched the ball more times.
Dessers’ numbers can’t be argued, but numbers have never, really, been the problem.
Did Rangers have a game plan?
Perhaps the biggest mistake was that there never seemed to be any real plan. When one player went off, Ferguson seemed to abandon what he had planned to do and made something else up on the spot.
Ferguson changed things so often, it’s little wonder Rangers didn’t look like a cohesive unit, with every substitute came a new formation.
Add this to players playing out of position and a striker who can’t hold the ball up and it’s easy to see why they barely laid a glove on Athletic.
This was Rangers’ biggest game of the season, the last competitive game, and yet it looked like a pre-season fixture, it was that chaotic – and it didn’t need to be if the manager knew what he was doing and truly believed in it.
