Barry's Happy Here

[Frankie 8,187]

I thought Ferguson was our best player against Celtic...

 

Didn't see the game yesterday but I think the result is the most important thing. What we clearly suffer from is a lack of motivation and confidence which can be attributed to a range of factors.

 

Does Barry Ferguson help or hinder those problems? It's a difficult question to answer and one which polarises the support no end.

[Guest FollowThe People]

I thought Ferguson was our best player against Celtic...

 

Didn't see the game yesterday but I think the result is the most important thing. What we clearly suffer from is a lack of motivation and confidence which can be attributed to a range of factors.

 

Does Barry Ferguson help or hinder those problems? It's a difficult question to answer and one which polarises the support no end.

 

I thought he or Mendes were a toss up, however I was told by an astounded acquaintance I couldn't be serious as he was the worst player on the pitch.

 

I can't grasp how he hinders us with his workrate,touch, distribution and will to win.

 

Off the field may be a different matter but I only judge him as a footballer, not that he went to Blackburn or any of the Le Guen stuff.

 

However that seems to be how a percentage judge him.

[Frankie 8,187]

Last season his work-rate was awful - but he was played further forward which I guess did mean the same industry wasn't expected (in a defensive sense anyway).

 

For the record I think Barry Ferguson is a great player. On form and fully fit he's also our best player. Unfortunately, for various reasons he's not found that form often enough since he came back from Blackburn.

 

Does that mean he should be sold? I'm not so sure as I think Mendes and Davis are less likely to step into the breach while Thomson (my own preferred midfielder) may never regain his best for another year at least.

 

As usual, the answer comes down to who will replace Ferguson if he does go? I sincerely doubt it would be a better player which makes the overall question somewhat easier to answer.

[craig 5,199]

Where does this piece come from?

 

The message at the break was that a few of us would be coming off if we didn't improve in the first 15 minutes after the break. And it was a great goal from Pedro that set Kris Boyd and Kirk Broadfoot celebrateus up to go on and win."

 

I doubt Ferguson will be going anywhere.

 

As for Boyd, he may have scored two late goals but he was abysmal yesterday IMO.

 

When you see stuff in the middle like that it is because there is a picture with a caption - when someone copies and pastes it also pulls int he picture caption. Delete the stuff in bold and you have what Boyd said.

[Guest FollowThe People]

We'll have to disagree, I thought his workrate was phenomenol last season.

 

I'll concede it was wasted workrate as most of it was running without the ball into space expecting to be found with passes that seldom were forthcoming.

 

I can't see any way on Earth he will be sold as he himself would have to agree to it and he doesn't want to play in England.

[Frankie 8,187]

Yeah, I can't see him wanting to leave. He said when he came back he was here for the rest of his career but, depending on what story you believe about why he left in the first place, maybe he'll be persuaded to leave again....

 

Personally I think there is no chance. However, Bougherra certainly looks likely - as do others.

[Cotter 0]

Last season his work-rate was awful - but he was played further forward which I guess did mean the same industry wasn't expected (in a defensive sense anyway).

 

For the record I think Barry Ferguson is a great player. On form and fully fit he's also our best player. Unfortunately, for various reasons he's not found that form often enough since he came back from Blackburn.

 

Does that mean he should be sold? I'm not so sure as I think Mendes and Davis are less likely to step into the breach while Thomson (my own preferred midfielder) may never regain his best for another year at least.

 

As usual, the answer comes down to who will replace Ferguson if he does go? I sincerely doubt it would be a better player which makes the overall question somewhat easier to answer.

 

There we have it.

 

If he leaves there is no chance he will be replaced by a better player. It will be yet another depressing downsizing excercise leading to nothing but less quality on the pitch and less trophies in the already threadbare cabinet.

 

I'm praying he stays.

[ascender 352]

Jim Traynor (I know, I know.....) hit the nail on the head today for me with his piece.

 

NEWCASTLE want Barry Ferguson.

Christmas has come late to Ibrox.

 

Word that the Premiership side are interested in buying Ferguson has to be the best piece of news Rangers have heard since Paul Le Guen told them the blood and snotters of the Scottish game wasn't for him.

 

Old Joe Kinnear has been telling everyone he wants to sign the Rangers captain and although the Ibrox hierarchy haven't been contacted yet, surely they must be rubbing their hands in anticipation.

 

If they're smart they'll get on the blower to Newcastle right away and secure a nice, fat cheque in return for Ferguson, a player whose popularity continues to outstrip his ability. If Ferguson does indeed have magical powers then he uses them only to dupe the masses into believing he is a player of extraordinary ability when, in fact, he's too often little better than mediocre.

 

But a myth has been allowed to grow around this player and anyone who chooses to stand apart and look at his contributions with a critical eye is immediately branded an idiot who has no knowledge or appreciation of the game's intricacies.

"You're talking through your a***, mate. Barry Ferguson, Baz, Bazza, Fergie? Great player. One of the best ever. Rangers would be nothing without him and the same goes for Scotland."

 

Actually, it is legitimate to ask if the opposite might be true for that club and our national team but somehow Ferguson has been moved in to a position where he cannot lose.

He has become great and almost heroic without ever having to prove any of it is true.

When Rangers struggle to win it is never his fault and yet he is meant to have skills beyond the ordinary.And he is the captain.

 

Also,when Scotland fail it is never his fault.

 

And yes,he is the national team captain,too. It's a surprise the law hasn't been changed to make it an offence to criticise Ferguson because he has so many fawning followers out there, especially in the papers. Even former footballers, who really ought to know better, talk him up.

The same thing happened with Paul McStay. He was another player who had greatness bestowed upon him without the need to earn it.

 

So now we are all supposed to accept Ferguson is a wondrous talent even though he wouldn't make it into a Rangers' best 11. And he certainly wouldn't be up there as one of the club's greatest skippers.

 

Ferguson has no idea how to lead a team.

 

He's too busy concentrating on himself and on how he is performing to help those around him.

All those who think he is a star need to ask themselves how often their hero stepped forward to show the way when Rangers were under pressure. Rarely is the answer and he hardly ever intimidates opposing midfield players.

 

The truth could be that he isn't brave enough and for evidence just think back to the last Old Firm match squeezed in between Christmas and the New Year.

 

Celtic's Scott Brown, Paul Hartley and Barry Robson did exactly what Ferguson fails to do.

Through their own energy, desire and courage they dragged their team-mates to victory but it is blindingly obvious Ferguson doesn't possess the skills or the mentality to be a genuine great of the game. Frankly it's hysterical that so many fans are in awe of him.

No doubt they'll be calling on Rangers to reject any offers but that would be extreme folly. If Kinnear is daft enough to want Ferguson then Rangers should do business as quickly as possible and get rid of him.

 

He wouldn't be such a big miss and other players such as Pedro Mendes and Steve Davis might even flourish because Ferguson's presence in a team seems to have the effect of subduing those around him. It's as though even they are in awe and feel they should operate in his shadow.

The same thing happens when he plays for Scotland and although it could be argued the likes of Mendes, Davis, Brown and Darren Fletcher should be confident and good enough to get on with business no matter who is in their teams, it might be time to see Ferguson for what he really is.

He can be exceptional but is just as frequently average and a sense of reality needs to be applied when talking about Ferguson, who might even have come to believe he is more important than anyone else at Ibrox.

 

The stand-off with Le Guen,who was never fooled by Ferguson and stripped him of the captaincy,added to the myth because the player survived while the manager had to leave but the Frenchman got it right.

 

He believed Ferguson's influence might not be in the club's best interests and it would be surprising if others at Ibrox have not yet come to believe the same thing.

Ferguson is not one of those players who can't be sold off. He isn't a Paul Scholes or a Steven Gerrard. Right now he isn't even a Scott Brown. Kinnear and Newcastle could be about to do Rangers a massive favour and if an offer is made David Murray should take it. Hard as it might be for many of their fans to accept, the club wouldn't fall apart without this one ordinary individual.

[Super_Ally 0]

Stopped reading it when he started saying we and the national team might be better off without him.

 

Probably one of the numpties who reckons a Scotland mdifield of the Celtic team and Fletcher is better than one with Fergie.

 

One need only look at the Italy game where only Fergie deserved to be on the same field as the World Champions and almsot single handedly gave us a chance of reaching the euros.

 

Probably part of the timmy/media mafia who wants to make out Brown is the dominant midfielder in the country.

 

Rather than those who rate Fergie, it is those who do not and write tripe liek Traynor has that have a questionable ability to read the game.

 

Fergie may not be on top form, but he is a class above anything else in a Scotland shirt and Traynor can get fucked!!!

[ascender 352]

Fergie may not be on top form, but he is a class above anything else in a Scotland shirt and Traynor can get fucked!!!

 

So if he's a class above all these other players, why isn't he showing it on a regular basis for us in particular? I can count on one hand the number of excellent performances I can remember from him for us over the last couple of years and I can't remember the last time he played a few very good games in a row, let alone really influenced matches.

 

I think he's been living on his past reputation with us for some time now and each year we've been getting excuses as to why he's not been playing well, but he's never regained the form he showed before he left to go to Blackburn.

 

I know we had much higher quality players around him back then, but if he is as talented as we keep being told, why isn't he showing us? At least in the SPL?