Three times Barry Ferguson reacted to Philippe Clement criticism with one nagging Rangers concern
Three times Barry Ferguson reacted to Philippe Clement criticism with one nagging Rangers concern
The king is dead, long live the king. Barry Ferguson is the new sheriff in town with the Rangers legend chosen to pick up the pieces Philippe Clement left behind.
This time last year when his side was top of the league, becoming Rangers manager was the last thing that the former skipper would have expected, however, here we are.
For the past few years, Ferguson has been passing judgement on all things Rangers, including Clement, and here are some of the highlights.
Unlike Kris Boyd, Ferguson has largely been supportive of the sacked boss, but HE did have one specific area of concern.
What were Barry Ferguson’s initial thoughts of Philippe Clement?
After just a couple of games, Ferguson, via The Daily Record, was impressed with the turnaround in fortunes that Clement managed to get out of the Rangers squad:
“Philippe Clement is just days in the door at Ibrox but I’m convinced he’s the straight man Rangers have been crying out for.
“He’s brought a bit of gravitas and class to the job and to use an old expression – I like the cut of his jib. Rewind to last weekend when he was asked if he was impressed with the performance against Hibs and the reporter claimed it could have been the best of the season so far.
“His reply was very straight, he said ‘impressed’ was a big word and would prefer to use the word, ‘happy”.
“It was great to hear a sober response from him. He knows the size of the task he has taken on and is well aware of what needs to be done both domestically and in Europe in the months ahead. Two games down and two decent performances but he’s playing it all low key.
“There’s no danger of him getting carried away. A draw in the Europa League against Sparta Prague was a positive for me, it was far from brilliant but if it’s progress from what’s gone before, there’s plenty to feel good about.”
What did Ferguson think about calls for Clement to be sacked?
Despite a poor run of form earlier in the season with defeats to Celtic and Aberdeen, as well as a draw to Hearts and exit from the Champions League, Ferguson still had Clement’s back, via The Daily Record:
“I know folk are calling for the manager’s head but I just don’t see that. The fact is that Philippe has signed a new contract at the start of the season and the club have just announced losses of £17m.
“I’m not sure they are in a position to pay off another manager, having gone through that costly process twice before with Gio van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale.
“So, I think the board will stand by the Belgian coach,” Ferguson said after Rangers lost to Aberdeen earlier in the season.
Did Ferguson agree with Clement’s rotation policy?
One major difference of opinion though, was that Ferguson disagreed with Clement’s policy of rotation:
“It shows, the players who have been left out the previous two games against St Mirren and Motherwell, you see the difference that they make,” said Ferguson of Vaclav Cerny, Nicolas Raskin and Hamza Igamane being rotated.
“You are going into a game and you are carrying a wee strain or you are a bit stiff in your calf or your hamstring, thigh, back, whatever it is, just start the game, get in front two goals and then your rest period is coming off at half-time or coming off at 60, 70 minutes. That’s generally what happened when I played with something when you were touch and go.
“As long as you get into the game and get comfortable in a result then the manager would make a decision to bring you off.”
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