Barry Ferguson has got his feet under the desk and boots on the training pitch on day one in his dream job at Rangers.
The new Rangers manager has hinted that there will be tactical changes in the coming weeks as he looks to stamp his authority on the squad, with an immediate difference between the Hall of Fame legend and Philippe Clement.
Clement doubled down on his tactics, claiming that there wasn’t time to change them during a season, something that Ferguson has refuted in his first press conference for Rangers.
Barry Ferguson refuses to use Philippe Clement excuse
The Ibrox hotseat can be a cruel place to sit with the last three managers all making promises that they haven’t been able to keep.
Dreams of the handbrake being taken off or of front-foot, attacking football disappeared as soon as an opponent put 10 men behind the ball.
Speaking as part of the preparations for the trip to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock, Ferguson was quick to make sure that the players were left under no illusions what was expected of them:
“I’ve not got long because I’ve only had one training session, but listen, I’m not going to use that as an excuse in terms of tomorrow night against Kilmarnock,” the new Gers boss said.
“We came in last night, I’ll be very honest, we came in about half past four, me and the coaching staff sat down for about four or five hours and had to get through a lot of things, so we were ready and prepared for the boys coming in this morning.
“I’ve not filled them with too much information because I think it’s too short notice, but they told me I understand what way we’re going to go against a very good Kilmarnock team and against a very good experienced manager.”
A stark contrast from Clement, who did use it as an excuse.
What changes can Ferguson make with immediate effect?
There isn’t going to be a massive tactical change, in terms of phases of play, however, what Ferguson will be expecting, at least, is a change in mentality.
As seen against St Mirren, nobody was prepared to take responsibility, the passing was side to side or, even worse, backwards.
There was no urgency, no belief, and to a men, every player was bullied by their opposite number.
Something Ferguson will want to stamp out on his watch as the dawn of a new era approaches.
