Blunt Barry Ferguson issues ominous Fenerbahce and Celtic warning to Rangers flops as one injury boost emerges

Ferguson was left enraged by the first 45 minutes of the Premiership match at Ibrox. Rangers found themselves 2-0 down at the half-hour mark thanks to goals from Luke Armstrong and Tom Sparrow and played insipid, error-strewn football. And while Cyriel Dessers got the hosts back into the match on 54 minutes, they were unable to find a leveller and kick on like they did on Wednesday night when recovering from a identical deficit to beat Kilmarnock 4-2.

Rangers are next in action in the Europa League when they take on Fenerbahce in Istanbul in the first leg of their last 16 tie on Thursday before welcoming them back to Ibrox seven days later. Their next domestic match is against league leaders Celtic at Parkhead on Sunday, March 16. Ferguson is acutely aware that performance levels will need to improve.

“What was wrong with us today?” said Ferguson as he began the inquest. “The start. It was nowhere near good enough. People will say it’s because they played on Wednesday night but they had 48 hours after the game. We had a recovery day on Thursday and a short sharp session on Friday.

“We threw at them 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 those 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’ve been her for four days and 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 in that first 45 minutes today. That frustrates me and angers me. At times I couldn’t believe what I was watching.”

Asked if was worried about what might happen against Fenerbahce or Celtic with that kind of display, Ferguson continued: “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.

“It's my job now in this short period of time and I'm going to just go and work my backside off to make sure this gets sorted. I spoke to them in the dressing room, they understand it. 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.

“Yeah, we created a few half chances, but I said on Friday, 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.”

Ferguson reiterated that the Rangers players have been told what mentality is required to succeed at Ibrox. “They have in the last four days, be rest assured,” the 47-year-old emphasised. “I've told them myself. Because I've been privileged to be at this club, to play, to captain, come back as an ambassador, now as a caretaker manager. So they're clear on what this place is all about.

“From what I've seen over the last four days, apart from obviously the first 45 minutes today, because I got a reaction in the second half. Listen, it wasn't a perfect reaction like it was on Wednesday night. There are players here, there's no doubt in my mind, there's players good enough, they just need a bit of help, a bit of guidance. I'm still positive on it. I want to win every single game I play, I know that's not possible.

“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, I need to go back to work and that's what we're certainly going to do on Monday morning when we come back into training.”

Ferguson did, however, warn the players that they are all playing for their future at Rangers - because that is the reality of the situation when a managerial change occurs.

“I don't know the contract situations, but when a manager loses his job, you are playing for your future,” said Ferguson. “When a new manager comes in, he wants to change quite a lot of things. I've got these players to work with and I'm not going to sit here and criticise them. What they've given me in a short period of time, I've been on the grass maximum two hours with them.

“They've given me everything. They've listened, they've understood what way, in terms of tactics, what way we want to play. They understand, obviously, because I've spoken to them about what it means to play at a club like this. They are privileged, it's a brilliant place to play your football. But at the end of the day, it's all about winning games.”

Ferguson confirmed that defender John Souttar trained on Saturday and will be available for the trip to Fenerbahce - and that once he has a full compliment of players back, the supporters will see a different Rangers team.

“Listen, I've got to work with what's here,” he added when quizzed on the squad. “I've been like yourself, I've been at all the games. I like a powerful, physical team. That's something that we've obviously been lacking because there's been a few injuries. Big Leon [Balogun] came back in for 45 minutes. I didn't even want to play him for 45 minutes. John, trained again today. John Sutter, he did a good session. He's going to be available for Thursday. Dujon [Sterling], back in. There's three physical players.

“So, going forward, you'll probably see a difference now because I'm starting to get these sorts of players back. That's something that I'm looking forward to because you need competition for places. We need a different type of player at times. Listen, I like technical players. I like to get the ball down and play. But, listen, sometimes you need to roll your sleeves up and get right in about it. Unfortunately, that's been one thing that us as a club, or us as a team, have suffered [from].”