Barry Ferguson’s opening press conference as Rangers’ newly-appointed interim manager brought up some pretty interesting points.
And, for the most part, his words will have been music to the earns of a fanbase who quickly grew tired of Philippe Clement’s excuses. Of the Belgian’s reluctance to accept responsibility, and his desire to pursue positives – no matter how small or insignificant – like a needle in a haystack.
Barry Ferguson, in contrast, could hardly have made a better impression as he prepares to take Rangers to Rugby Park for Wednesday’s clash with Kilmarnock.
The five-time Premiership champion and former Ibrox skipper is already a massive fan favourite on the blue side of Glasgow.
But the manner in which he spoke to the media – there will be no ‘excuses’ he says if Rangers don’t win in Ayrshire with results all that matters right now – will give a disillusioned fanbase some hope of a brighter end to a pretty dark domestic season.
Ferguson also buys into the old adage that, if you are good enough, you are very much old enough.
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Barry Ferguson open to big Rangers role for Bailey Rice and Findlay Curtis
Clement refused to promise first-team minutes for Bailey Rice, Findlay Curtis, Paul Nsio and co ahead of his last match in charge against St Mirren last weekend. Comments which did not go down particularly well in some quarters.
Philippe Clement had already been slammed by Michael Stewart for the ‘deplorable’ decision to hail 18-year-old Rice off at half-time in that infamous cup defeat to Queen’s Park, while it’s also tempting to wonder if Zak Lovelace would have thought twice about returning to Millwall had he been handed a few more chances in the senior squad.
Ferguson, though, insists that he has ‘no issues’ in promoting Rice and Curtis in particular. He also promises to put extra emphasis on helping out Rangers’ next generation of homegrown talent during his admittedly short stay in the dugout.
“Age is just a number in terms of young players,” Ferguson says. “We have got some talented young players, there’s no doubt. We’ve got Bailey Rice, we’ve got Findlay Curtis, who have broke into the team over the last number of weeks.
“If they’re good enough and they’re show enough in training, I will have no issues with playing these guys. The door is open for young players in the academy.
“It’s important as a football club that you always produce your own. And as I said, I’ll do a lot of work to try and progress these young guys as footballers.”
Ferguson sees Nedim Bajrami as a number ten
Clement said Rangers let Kieran Dowell go to Birmingham City in order to give Rice a bigger role going forward. Since then, however, the teenage midfielder has played only 45 minutes of Premiership football. He was left on the bench for the entirety of that St Mirren setback.
Curtis will be hoping for greater involvement under Ferguson too. A highly-technical attacking midfielder who likes to drift in off the left, Curtis chances should be boosted by Ferguson’s belief that Nedim Bajrami is more effective as a ‘ten’ than when cutting from out wide.
“Nedim Bajrami is starting to look like a £3 million player now he’s being deployed in the number ten role,” Ferguson said after the Albanian scored in the League Cup final against Celtic.
So presuming Bajrami will feature through the middle under Ferguson – with Rabbi Matondo out on loan and Oscar Cortes still unavailable – opportunities should present themselves for Curtis if he is able to grab them.
