As Rangers struggle domestically with any hope of silverware all but gone, can the Europa League be their salvation again this season?
They slumped to their third straight defeat at Ibrox on Saturday with head coach Barry Ferguson warning they face “heavy defeats” if they continue to perform as they did against Motherwell.
They are 16 points behind Celtic in the Premiership, lost the League Cup final to their Old Firm rivals and were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park, but somehow find themselves in the last 16 of the Europa League for the fifth consecutive time.
There is apathy from some sections of the support, but a US-backed takeover has been agreed in principle, so a result against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce would go some way to winning more fans back.
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Jose Mourinho refuses to rule out the possibility of managing Rangers or Celtic one day and praises the ‘passion’ in Scottish football, but says he’s not currently searching for a new job
It is unchartered territory for Ferguson in management, but he captained Rangers to the then UEFA Cup Final in 2008, before losing 2-0 to Zenit St Petersburg.
There has of course been huge change at the club in recent years. Of the current squad, only James Tavernier and Leon Balogun featured in their run to the final in 2022, when they lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt.
James Tavernier is one of two players who were in Rangers’ last squad to reach the Europa League final
Rangers find themselves in the knockouts after finishing in the top-eight of the league phase, that’s despite facing four of the seven other teams who finished in that section – including Manchester United, Tottenham, Lyon and Olympiakos.
That was of course under Philippe Clement – but it is Ferguson who now must mastermind a plan that can see this group produce another strong run in this competition.
Ferguson not going in ‘blind’ as EL clash awaits
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Rangers head coach Barry Ferguson says he will take inspiration from past bosses as he prepares for his first European game in the dugout
Ferguson insists he is not going “blind” into Rangers’ Europa League last-16 tie against Fenerbahce.
The former Gers captain takes charge of the Light Blues for only the third time against 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.
“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.”
Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson (L) replaced Philippe Clement who was sacked last month
Ferguson declined to get involved in the spat between Mourinho and former Gers boss Clement. 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”.
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.
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Watch the hilarious moment Mourinho almost disappears out of view at his Fenerbahce press conference as his chair suffers a malfunction!
“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.”
