Barry Ferguson 'not blind' to Rangers Europa League task as inspiration taken from former Ibrox trio

Interim boss Barry Ferguson insists he is not going “blind” into Rangers’ Europa League last-16 tie against Fenerbahce on Thursday night.

The former Gers captain takes charge of the Light Blues for only the third time against Jose Mourinho’s men in Istanbul.

It will be Ferguson’s first European game as a manager but he pointed to the playing experience he and his new backroom staff of Billy Dodds, Neil McCann and Allan McGregor, all ex-Rangers players, can bring to the match.

Rangers interim head coach Barry Ferguson during a press conference at the Ulker Stadium Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Sports Complex in Istanbul, Turkey. Picture date: Wednesday March 5, 2025. | PA

“I’ll take a bit of inspiration, not just from Walter Smith, who was a great manager, but also Dick Advocaat and Alex McLeish,” said the former Alloa, Kelty Hearts and Clyde manager, who hopes defenders John Souttar and Leon Balogun come through training with no problems.

“I know a lot of people say that I’m new to this job, and rightly so, but I’ve played in a lot of European games. Whether that be the Champions League or the UEFA Cup.

“I understand the times that you need to play a different way. That’s something that me and my coaching staff have sat down and spoke about.

“As I said, the coaching staff have a lot of experience in Europe. We’re not going into this blind. We’re coming up against a very good team with very good players and, in my opinion, a top manager.

“So we’re expecting a tough night, but we’re prepared. The guys know their jobs.”

Ferguson declined to get involved in the spat between Mourinho and former Gers boss Philippe Clement, from whom Ferguson took over recently.

When the draw was made, Clement claimed not to be a fan of Mourinho’s pragmatic style of play. The Portuguese boss responded on Wednesday, saying that he expected Ferguson to give him a tougher test than Clement, who was too restricted by “philosophy”.

Rangers' Mohammed Diomande (left) and Nicolas Raskin inspect the pitch ahead of a press conference at the Ulker Stadium Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Sports Complex in Istanbul, Turkey. Picture date: Wednesday March 5, 2025. | PA

Ferguson said: “That’s up to other people to decide what they think of Mourinho but he’s a top-class manager and he’s won so many titles and he’s managed at so many top teams. He’s won, I think, 26 titles, round about that.

“Titles in Portugal, England, Italy. So in my opinion, a top-class manager and I’m really looking forward to coming up against him.

“I know a lot of people say he’s a defensive coach, but he’s a top coach also. He knows how to set up teams and the way that they play.

“We’ve watched probably 10 games over the last four days and I don’t see it, I don’t see the way his team play as a defensive team.

“I’m expecting a tough game. The players know that as well. So, we’re prepared as much as we can and we need to go and certainly give a performance that I expect from them.”

After a 4-2 comeback win over Kilmarnock in his first game as interim boss, Ferguson watched Rangers lose 2-1 against Motherwell at Ibrox on Saturday, making it three successive home defeats for the Light Blues for first time since 2012.

He said: “It was important that I got at least a couple of days in a row on the training field.

“As you know, last week, I had only one day before the Kilmarnock game and then before the game at the weekend, it was basically a rest day on a Thursday and had the boys again on Friday.

“So, this week, we’ve had two full days to prepare properly and to go through certain scenarios within the game against a team who, I think, potentially could win the Europa League.

“So, we need to be at it, we need to be organised, we need to be prepared and we’ve certainly done that over the last few days.”