Barry Ferguson last night spoke of his anger at seeing Motherwell ‘run over the top of’ his Rangers side at home — and warned more of the same will lead to thrashings from Celtic and European rivals Fenerbahce.
Ferguson, who saw his team come back from the dead to beat Kilmarnock 4-2 in his first game in charge, was frustrated by a terrible first half which saw the Fir Park side go two goals up at Ibrox thanks to Luke Armstrong and Tom Sparrow.
Cyriel Dessers pulled one back for Rangers in the second half and had a leveller controversially ruled out, but the interim manager admits he couldn’t believe how bad the first half was and has warned it can’t happen again ahead of Thursday’s Europa League last-16 trip to Turkey to face Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce and the next Old Firm derby at Parkhead in two weeks’ time.
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Asked about what will happen in upcoming fixtures with a similar standard of performance, Ferguson replied: ‘It’s clear they will suffer a heavy defeat. I’m not going to sit here and try and kid people on.
‘That level of performance, certainly in the first half, is nowhere near the standards that are needed.
‘Listen, Rangers fans can accept you not playing well. What Rangers fans can’t accept is when your team gets run over the top of in the first 45 minutes.
Barry Ferguson (right) and Neil McCann vent their anger at a woeful first half at Ibrox
Motherwell defender Dan Casey roars in delight with a well-deserved victory at Ibrox
Dejected skipper James Tavernier applauds the Rangers fans at full-time
‘Yeah, we created a few half chances, but, when you’re playing at Ibrox, you need to be the dominant force. Motherwell dominated us in the first half.
‘Did we dominate them in the second half? At times, but not enough.
‘What was wrong with us today? The start. It was nowhere near good enough.
‘We went through the stuff I demanded from the players and that was nowhere near what I asked them to do.
‘Did I get a kick out of them in the second half after making three changes? I shouldn’t have to make three changes. I shouldn’t have had to do what I did on Wednesday night either. But I had to, to get a reaction. That’s a concern for me.
‘I’m very surprised by that performance. I know I’ve got good players, but, when you’re at Rangers, it’s not just about being a good player. You need to have other attributes.
‘I saw a lot of those attributes at Kilmarnock, but I didn’t see that in that first 45 minutes, which frustrates me and angers me. At times, I couldn’t believe what I was watching.
‘I got a reaction in the second half, but was it enough? Clearly it wasn’t because we didn’t take anything from the game.
‘We lost the first goal and the players were edgy. I tried to calm them down because that happens in football, but we had 80 minutes to get back in the game.
‘But they were on edge. I’ve been at every game this season and that’s been the case. I thought, on Wednesday night, we’d maybe got rid of it but clearly we haven’t.’
Asked if this squad understands what being a Rangers player is about, Ferguson, who will have John Souttar available for the Europa League first-leg clash at Fenerbahce, said: ‘They have in the last four days, rest assured. I’ve told them myself.
‘There are players here good enough. They just need a bit of help, a bit of guidance.
‘I’m not going to sit here and let my shoulders drop down, my head’s not going to drop down. I need to be positive.
Barry Ferguson has plenty to ponder as Rangers produce another woeful home performance
‘This is a kick in the sore ones.
‘I’ve got to work with what’s here. I like a powerful, physical team. That’s something that we’ve obviously been lacking because there’s been a few injuries.
‘I like technical players. I like to get the ball down and play. But, sometimes, you need to roll your sleeves up and get in about it.’
Jubilant Motherwell boss Michael Wimmer (below) hailed his players as ‘lions’ and admitted they carried out his game plan to the letter.
‘I am very happy, I am very proud of the guys, they did it really well,’ said the former Austria Vienna boss. ‘It went just as it did in my mind before the game.
‘The guys found the right balance between high press and low press. Also, in possession, it was important not to play only long balls. If you do that then you have no time to relax a little bit.
‘I was really proud that the second goal was just as we spoke about in analysis.
‘This is a great stadium, the atmosphere is perfect, it is brilliant so to win here makes me proud.
‘But it is not my work, it is the work from the players on the pitch.’