ZeeboiOne can only imagine that in the future, should James Tavernier or Jack Butland pen an autobiography about their time at Rangers, they might reveal what it’s like to face the fiery wrath of Barry Ferguson.
Andrea Pirlo once likened Antonio Conte’s explosive post-match tirades to a volcanic eruption, describing them as more of a verbal onslaught than a mere reprimand.
“When he talks, his words assault you,” Pirlo wrote in his memoir ‘I Think Therefore I Play.’ “They crash through your mind, often quite violently, and settle deep within.”
Following Rangers’ fifth consecutive home defeat, this time a 2-0 loss to Hibernian at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon—where David Gray’s Manager of the Month accolade was validated—a visibly furious Ferguson unleashed his own fiery outburst, threatening to reduce the defeated dressing room to rubble.
The match was marked by all-too-familiar shortcomings.
Jack Butland handed Hibs the opening goal when Dylan Levitt’s speculative shot slipped beneath the goalkeeper, whose form since the start of the year has been more reminiscent of a casual YouTuber charity match than elite-level football.
Barry Ferguson laments Jack Butland’s ‘mistake’ as Hibs shock Rangers at Ibrox:
Rangers controlled possession and squandered several chances, with Cyriel Dessers being the primary culprit, before the in-form Martin Boyle sealed the victory for Hibernian, making them the fifth team in succession—following Queens Park, St Mirren, Motherwell, and Fenerbahce—to plunge Ibrox into a state of gloom.
“Worse than disappointing,” Ferguson fumed, as the memory of impressive away wins against Celtic and in Istanbul quickly faded. “Where do I start? How long have we got? A few home truths were told.
“That’s not a Rangers team. European games and Celtic games are the easiest to get up for. You’re playing for Glasgow Rangers, if you can’t get up for games of football then there’s something wrong. I’m fuming.
“I seriously need to go away myself, I’m the guy who picks the team and decides how we approach the game. I’ve made my mind up of how we will approach between now and end of the season. It’s not going to be pretty to watch.
“[I am] angry. Really angry in fact. That’s the most simple way I can put it. There’s no way I’m accepting that.
“I thought we started on the front foot before Hibs got the first goal. Another mistake from us [Butland gifting Levitt the opener after just eight minutes]. I said at half-time I need to see more, I want to see more aggression in our play and I never saw it. That’s the thing I’m raging with.
“I’m not going to kid anybody on. Hibs deserved it. They tackled harder, ran harder and wanted it more. It’s sore for me to say that.
“I get where you’re coming from with Jack. Listen, as I said, when I come up here, I’m open and honest. And I’ve said to Jack, it’s a bad mistake. He understands that.”
Ferguson vows ‘changes’ for Europa League clash against Athletic Bilbao:
Although Rangers have already secured second place—Hibs sit third, trailing by 15 points—Ferguson is acutely aware that such performances cannot be repeated if they hope to progress past their Europa League quarter-final tie against Athletic Bilbao.
Many Rangers supporters have called for Ferguson to replace Butland with Liam Kelly to end the goalkeeper’s ongoing struggles. As the caretaker manager commits to making significant changes to his lineup for the match against the La Liga side, Butland, with his recent errors, appears to be the most likely candidate to be dropped.
“There will be a series of changes on Thursday night,” Ferguson adds. “If people aren’t going to run as hard as they need to, put in the level of effort that they need to, there will be changes.
“I’ve not watched Bilbao yet. I’m very much game to game. My staff have watched them but tonight I’ll have a mixture of watching today’s game again and will watch a lot of Bilbao.
“Europe doesn’t concern me because the atmosphere is there. It’s games like today where this club has struggled for far too long and it needs to fix that.”
Zeeboi
