Barry’s regret at Clyde fan bust-up
Bully Wee boss admits he was in the wrong
Clyde gaffer Barry Ferguson has admitted he regrets the spat with a fan that led to his sending off in Saturday’s cup defeat at Spartans.
The Bully Wee boss was giving his marching orders after becoming embroiled in an argument with a disgruntled supporter after Clyde fell 2-0 behind to the non-league side.
Two weeks ago, in a newspaper column, Barry warned Rangers fullback Ricky Foster not to get involved with supporters, although he admitted he’d been guilty of the same thing.
The former Rangers and Scotland skipper has come under fire from supporters for the latest incident, and he told the Reformer this week that it would not happen again.
He said: “I should know better than to react the way I did, but it was a heat of the moment thing.
“I was just as frustrated as they were, but listen, we all do some silly things.
“This was one of those things I should not have done.”
While showing remorse for his response to the crowd criticism, Barry was in no mood to take back his opinion on the players he feels let Clyde down at the weekend.
Spartans were well worth their victory, which came courtesy of two penalties, and Barry even threatened to play under 20’s until he could bring in reinforcements in January.
Speaking on Monday, he said: “I had every right to be disappointed, they were poor on the day so there’s no going back on what I said.
“I am not accepting performances like that. I accept bad performances, but I do not accept us not competing and that’s what happened.”
Clyde have the chance to bounce back on Saturday when they travel north to face Montrose.
The Angus side, who won 2-1 at Broadwood earlier in the campaign, sit a point ahead of the Bully Wee in the table, and a win will see Ferguson’s side leapfrog their opponents and move into the play-off spot.
Barry is expecting a tough game, and has called on his men to respond after their cup disaster: “It’s up to the players.
“They owe it not just to me, but to the staff and the supporters, and most importantly to themselves.
“It’s all about self-pride. I would like to think they will be disappointed as well.
“It’s a fresh week and we’re looking forward to training. I know they’ll get their heads down and work hard.
“Like most of the games in this league, Montrose will be a tight game. They are a tough outfit and strong unit.
“They came to our place before we went on a wee run and we were disappointed with our performance.
“It will be a tough game.” Clyde were dumped out the Scottish Cup by non-league Spartans.
Two Kevin Motion penalties either side of half-time saw the Lowland League champions go through.
Spartans went in front after 15 minutes when Ryan Frances tripped Jack Beesley and Motion sent the keeper the wrong way.
Clyde’s Alan Martin did well to turn Gary Cennerazzo’s strike away.
Spartans keeper Kevin Swain tipped Scott Ferguson’s bending effort away from the top corner in 58 minutes before Motion made it two from 12 yards after Brian McQueen’s foul on Willie Bremner.
The hosts ended the game with 10 men after Kevin Sivewright was sent off for a second yellow.
Boss Barry Ferguson was ordered off in the dying minutes after trading verbals with his own fans.
CLYDE: Martin, Durie, McIlduff, McQueen, Frances (Halkett, 46), O’Donnell (Gibson, 59, Gray, Sinclair, (Ferguson, 46), McManus, Watt, Smith