Barry Ferguson wants Rangers to tap into Manchester mentality
Last updated 16th Apr 2025
Barry Ferguson's wants Rangers to tap into the club's Manchester mentality when they take on Athletic Bilbao in their Europa League clash on Thursday night.
The Gers held the highly-rated La Liga side to a goalless draw in the first game at Ibrox after playing most of the night with 10 men after defender Robin Propper was sent off after just 13 minutes and hope to reach the semi-final in the return game in the San Mames Stadium , which will host the final.
Ferguson, installed as boss until the end of the season when Phillipe Clement departed in February, was captain of the Gers side which, against the odds, reached the UEFA Cup final in 2008 only to be beaten 2-0 by Russian side Zenit St Petersburg and he knows what he is looking for from his side, including "a lot of discipline".
He said: “Yeah, same work ethic to that team I played in.
“We're very workman-like. That's what I want to see from my team, but also we'll be good footballers.
“So when we have the ball, certainly at a stadium like this you need to be able to keep it.
“So we've spoken about that as well, because we need to defend. They’re a very attack-minded team, but when we get possession, we need to be better, and that's something that we've spoken about and worked on.
"The way we are going to set up and play tomorrow night it only takes one member of the team to switch off, and if that happens, they are going to hurt us. It is important we are switched on every single second of the game, that is something we are big on, and my staff are, the players understand that.
"You have roles and responsibilities with and without the ball.
"Sometimes tomorrow night we are going to be without the ball, so we need to be set up really strong and again that is something we have worked on in the last couple of days."
Ferguson is hoping his sIDE can tap into the pressure the home side will surely feel going into the game.
The former Scotland captain said: "Look the players understand the final will be here, and I would reckon the players will be desperate to get to the final, but we are in front of them; we need to show we are desperate to get there.
"We have a big 90 minutes, or extra-time and penalties, but we are fully prepared and understand they are going to come at us, there’s no doubt about that, but we are going to be prepared for that."
Rangers beat Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce in a penalty shoot-out in the last round and Ferguson is bracing himself for another potentially nervous finale.
He said: "That’s a high possibility but my players showed they can do that against Fenerbahce; they can go right to the end, there is no doubt about that. In terms of practising penalties.
"I leave that up to the players, some stay out and do things like that but ideally I don’t want it to go to penalties or extra time. It may have to but we are well prepared for that."
While Robin Propper is suspended after being sent off in the first leg. defender John Souttar and midfielder Mohamed Diomande return from their respective bans and Ferguson revealed more positive news on the selection front saying: “Leon Balogun trained. Ridvan (Yilmaz), (Vaclav) Cerny trained, and (Bailey) Rice all trained.
“So hopefully, when they wake up tomorrow, there's been no issues and as I said, hopefully we're going to be strong.
“Also, we've got John Souttar and Diomande back.
“Things are looking pretty healthy, but as I said, I just need to wait until tomorrow morning, I speak to the medical staff and hopefully I get the thumbs on."
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