SOFT FROM TOP TO BOTTOM...

Rangers sorely lack leadership on the park and in the boardroom

SOFT, average and in need of a helping hand on and off the pitch. When it comes to the current failings of Rangers, Derek Ferguson holds nothing back.

The former Ibrox midfielder, now a BBC Scotland analyst, surveys current efforts to secure a director of football and revamp the club’s management structure with an air of dismay.

German Markus Babbel is the latest name to attract a flurry of bets after directors interviewed prospective candidates in London. Pointing to the examples of Brendan Rodgers and Derek McInnes as managers who operate effectively without the assistance of a technical director at Celtic or Aberdeen, however, Ferguson believes the strategy is unnecessary.

‘I’m not so sure about this director of football thing,’ he said ahead of tonight’s home league clash with St Johnstone and Saturday’s William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final with Hamilton. ‘It’s about getting in the right people. Maybe I’m a dinosaur but I think you should appoint the right manager with good people around him.

‘That’s not just players but coaches. Look at Brendan Rodgers. Does he need a director of football? Does Derek McInnes? They’re first and second in the league. It seems to be the in thing and it works for certain clubs, but I’m not sure it would work for Rangers.

‘They should have brought somebody in as temporary manager just to steady the ship, nail down second place and maybe give them an outside chance of winning the Scottish Cup.’

Ferguson is the first to admit there is no silver bullet for the plight Rangers find themselves in.

Graeme Murty, the Under-20 coach, is in interim charge and many believe the appointment of, say, Alex McLeish, could have bought the board some time until the end of the season.

‘They lack leadership throughout the club, at every level,’ Ferguson continued. ‘If you’re going to let the manager leave, you’ve surely got to have something in place.

‘I’ve never been on a board but is it not just common sense? You’d have thought they’d have something lined up.

‘If there are guys they are looking to bring in on a short-term basis, guys that aren’t working, why not get them in? Because it’s not fair on Murty at the moment. You need to get guys who have been there and done it. I thought Alex McLeish would have been perfect.

‘Even with a view — if he did pretty well — to taking the job on a bit longer. I’m amazed they are just letting it go.’

Ibrox directors are working to have a director of football in place by next week, before the Old Firm clash at Parkhead. The expectation is that a head coach will follow soon after.

Exasperated by the absence of a contingency plan in the aftermath of Mark Warburton’s departure, however, Ferguson believes poor player recruitment, boardroom hesitation and weak players have created a perfect storm which shows no sign of easing. Chairman Dave King, he believes, has questions to answer.

‘Someone has to get in there to sort out that mess,’ he insisted. ‘I don’t believe there is a lack of effort or desire. I just think you have an average side. ‘There are, unfortunately, average players at Rangers right now who Warburton brought in. That’s where the blame should lie.

‘Supporters want to know what’s happening and I think the board have to stand up and have a huge responsibility. ‘The fans pay a lot of money to support their club. They are not getting answers.

‘I thought t here should have been a manager come in by now, whether it was to take them to the end of this season, with a view to bring in someone else.

‘I don’t think Graeme Murty is the answer and that’s not having a go at him. He’s worked at a certain level. He’s worked with kids.

‘Players don’t respond to that. I’ve been there myself. They will respect him but will they give him everything? I don’t think so. Players are a funny bunch at times. Sometimes if their nose is put out of joint, they do show that on the park.

‘I don’t actually think you can accuse the players of that. They are trying — and maybe they are just not good enough. I don’t think they are good enough. They need someone in there to help them.’

Warburton is now locked in a messy legal battle over the circumstances of his departure.

Ferguson believes there can be no dispute over the poor value of money secured by a raft of signings this season, the absence of grit or leadership contributing to perceptions of physical and mental weakness.

‘Rangers are vulnerable,’ he said. ‘They have a soft centre.

‘At home against Hamilton in the Scottish Cup, you would fancy them. But there is a softness. They have too many players the same.

‘There are not too many guys within that group who show the hunger and desire of a 37-year-old Kenny Miller. There is not enough of that type within the squad.

‘The signings Mark made, they are all the same. They are nice, neat and tidy. That’s okay at home but when you step up a level and go to Tynecastle or Pittodrie, you need to play differently.

‘You need more about you. What I mean by that is you need mettle and some dig. A bit of know-how. I’m not saying they should go about kicking people. You have to be cute — and I don’t think he got the right type, the right mix in.

‘All the guys are nice, neat, tidy players but you need something else, a Stuart McCall type, a Neil Lennon, some protection. And not just one. You need a couple.

‘Look at the team at Inverness the other night (Rangers lost 2-1). (Emerson) Hyndman and (Jon) Toral are good players but when they’ve not got the ball, they struggle. They needed leaders.’

A lack of leadership, argues Ferguson, is not restricted to the playing surface or the technical area. Questions are now being asked of the Rangers board — of the promises made by King.

‘At the start of the season, Dave King said they wanted second place — it doesn’t look like it at the minute,’ said Ferguson.

‘He says he has spent £18million of it but punters expected £30m to be spent on players.

‘Maybe he should have been a little more guarded.

‘When you promise that kind of money, the punters will expect to see it. He says he’s spent £18m but the fans would want to see that on players rather than things like refurbishment and loans.

‘He said he wanted to challenge Celtic. Maybe he should have told fans that wasn’t going to happen, that it was about stabilising the club.

‘But at Rangers there are always expectations. You need to win.

‘For guys like myself, who have played for the club, you know you don’t play second fiddle to anyone.’

DEREK FERGUSON was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.