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their last Euro final in the 2008 UEFA Cup – said: “I’m sure Steven Gerrard would pick up the phone to Brendan Rodgers to get his opinion on Slavia Prague.
“It would certainly cross my mind if I knew someone who could maybe help me.
“Rangers would have had a dossier on Slavia Prague within 10 minutes of the draw being made and they’ll gather more information in the coming days. But I don’t think Steven would think twice about asking Brendan.
“Forget the fact he’s an ex-Celtic manager, the pair of them worked together at Liverpool and these things happen all the time in football.
“It’s not as if he is the Celtic manager just now. And British bosses would all try to help each other, so there will be a bit of communication I’m sure.
“Slavia Prague knocked Leicester out and they’re flying high in the Premier League, so they clearly won’t be last-16 pushovers.
“However, when I was looking at the teams in the hat, Slavia Prague and Molde were probably the two that jumped out as being a favourable draw.
“But that’s not to dismiss them. In a sense, these games can be more dangerous because if you draw one of the big guns, then there’s no chance of complacency. Yes, it’s a good draw but you can’t be overconfident.
“We’re in the last 16 of the Europa League, so Rangers will have to show them the same respect as if they’d come out the hat with Manchester United.
“The win over Leicester is all they need to warn them of their quality but let’s not forget a lot of teams would have wanted to avoid Rangers.”
Rodgers, though, reckons that Gerrard will be able to mastermind a victory all by himself.
The Northern Irishman said: “Steven and Rangers won’t need my help on it.
“They will have seen the game and have enough analysts who will see how Slavia Prague have done over the season and Thursday night’s game.
“I wouldn’t be expecting a call from him.
“They won’t need my help, that’s for sure.”
Rodgers was kicking himself at what might have been as he missed out on a return to Ibrox, Jindrich Trpisovsky’s side beating his City outfit 2-0.
He said: “I would have loved to have gone back to Glasgow. It’s a great city and I’m sure it would have been a great game.”
Ferguson is confident Rangers will be able to put the finishing touches to their title bid as well as progress in Europe.
The former skipper and his team-mates had to contend with a fixture pile-up when they went all the way to the showpiece.
He said: “When we got to the Final in 2008 we had fixtures coming thick and fast as we were going for four competitions.
“When you’re playing Thursday-SundayThursday it’s tough – physically and mentally – and a lot of people probably don’t realise that.
“But Rangers don’t have that problem just now.
“We still don’t know what’s happening with the Scottish Cup and they won’t take their eye off the ball in the league. But if that’s sealed in the coming weeks, it will allow them to put everything into the Europa League.
“If they get through against Slavia Prague, the quarter-finals are in April.
“If the title is in the bag by then, they can put everything into that.
“The attitude might change slightly and they can maybe rest players.”
IT took me 88 minutes rather than 16 seconds and I’m not sure it was quite as good a finish.
But I can relate to Nathan Patterson’s relief after he hit the back of the net against Royal Antwerp on Thursday night. The young man had been sitting stewing for almost two weeks while everyone had their say on him. A lot of the criticism was way over the top, with some saying the 19-year-old’s Rangers career should be over before it’s really started. There’s no doubt he and his four teammates were bang out of order in breaching Covid rules by attending an illegal party. But they were dealt with internally by the club, were missing for 10 days, and I expect further punishment in the shape of SFA bans, as was the case with Jordan Jones and George Edmundson before them, to be coming their way. There’s nothing worse as a footballer than open season with people putting the boot in – but the best way to respond is on the park. Patterson did that with his goal, only his second touch after his half-time introduction at Ibrox. I’ve been known to get into a bit of trouble during my career and there was, of course, that infamous episode – I can’t even call it a bust-up because I’ve said before there was no big confrontation – with Paul Le Guen 14 years ago. There was a lot of stuff said about what I’d apparently done – rumours of cliques – but there was a load of absolute s**t written with 99.9 per cent of it total nonsense.
But after about a similar amount of time as Patterson was out of the picture, Walter Smith returned to the club for his second spell in charge to replace Le Guen.
His first game was against Dundee United and I remember it was a rain-lashed afternoon.
But on a gloomy day in Govan, there was a bit of light for me after my Ibrox career had been in doubt. We won 5-0 and I scored the final goal, latching on to Kris Boyd’s header and rounding Derek Stillie before putting the ball away.
I’d played under Ian Durrant when we lost at Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup the previous week but Walter’s debut second time around was a big deal.
It was just a relief to pull that Rangers jersey on again and shut people up. I can only imagine that was how young Nathan was feeling.
He has done something that upset the manager and the club but has been given another chance. You could see in his celebration what it meant because that was the only way he could respond to people.
I totally understand why Steven Gerrard played him because he has to do what’s best for Rangers. The boy made one helluva mistake and let’s hope he learns from that.
Everyone makes mistakes – not just footballers – and everyone deserves a second chance.
When I watched his interview and then his reaction when he scored on Thursday, you could see what it meant to him.
He knows this is probably his last chance. He’s made a mistake, let’s move on from it.
And you couldn’t have written the script in the second leg of the last-32 tie.
It was a great run and finish for his goal and you’ve got to give him credit. It’s clear the manager thinks he’s got potential to be a Rangers first-team player. He just has to knuckle down and keep his powder dry.
It’s all there for him, he showed he can perform on the big stage.
Right-back is something of a problem position for Scotland but it’s a bit premature to tout him for that until he’s established in Rangers’ first team.
He’s got potential and I see similarities between him and Alan Hutton in their style, although Hutton had six months where he was unplayable before moving to Tottenham.
He was immense but there are similarities in the way Nathan bombs forward and he’s a strong runner. Alan played a number of games and Nathan has to do the same.
I know a lot has been said about him but he’s young. I’ve got kids myself and I’ve been in trouble, not just that episode with Le Guen. When people make a mistake, if they show remorse, which the young man clearly has, then they deserve a second chance.
He knows he’s made a mistake, he apologised and he’ll likely be punished with a domestic ban. But Gerrard has to think of Rangers, first and foremost.
They were excellent against Antwerp. There’s always going to be a period in a game when the opposition will gain an advantage and they did in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
But Rangers came flying out of the traps thanks to Patterson and were brilliant going forward. That’s the best I’ve seen Alfredo Morelos – he was a stand-out.
There’s been expectation put on them in the league and over the past month a lot of people said they haven’t been on top form. Sometimes it can be a relief in Europe.
It can be a welcome break when you are playing against teams you’re not as familiar with and the European arena is an unbelievable stage on which to be involved.