‘Kids can deliver if given their shot in Old Firm clash’ Exuberance of youngsters may prove infectious for Rangers during title run-in, claims ex-Ibrox star
THE pressure to perform which the Rangers players will be under when they take to the field at Ibrox on Sunday before their third meeting of the season with Celtic will be immense. Win the cinch Premiership match and they will go two points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand against Dundee away still to play and increase their chances of lifting the Scottish title for the first time in three years enormously.
Lose the eagerly anticipated encounter with their city rivals and the backlash from the 50,000-strong crowd – which will once again not comprise any away supporters – will be considerable.
It will be entirely understandable if Rangers manager Philippe Clement picks a starting line-up packed with experience given the enormity of the fixture.
Yet, Clement has been urged to consider giving youngsters like Ross McCausland and Cole McKinnon game time both this weekend and in the weeks ahead by one former player whose youthful fearlessness helped the Govan club to end a long barren run in the league.
Derek Ferguson had just turned 19 when the 1986/87 season got underway – but the midfielder featured regularly alongside the likes of Terry Butcher, Davie Cooper, Ally Dawson, Robert Fleck, Ally McCoist, Dave McPherson, Jimmy Nicholl and Graham Roberts and ensured Graeme Souness’s side were crowned champions for the first time in nine years.
Ferguson, the father of current Bologna captain and Scotland squad member Lewis, knows from personal experience that kids don’t feel the same nervousness as their older team mates when the heat is on and believes their exuberance could be infectious during a title run-in.
“This is the business end of the season,” he said. “This is when players are under pressure and that’s when you see what they’re made of. But I think what Clement’s done with these players is he’s installed a winning mentality which they didn’t have at the start of the season with the other manager.
“I think that’s where he does a lot of work with them. It is not just out on the training pitch with him. I think a lot goes on behind the scenes. He gives them a belief and a determination to succeed and that’s important because your mind has to be right.
“But when I broke into the team I was too young to feel any pressure, I was just enjoying it. I thought it was always going to be like that. Unfortunately, it isn’t because it goes past in a flash. I think when you get a wee bit older, you realise and you feel the pressure a bit more.
“The more experienced players feel that pressure and they maybe protect you a wee bit. But maybe what the likes of Ian Durrant and I had rubbed off on them a wee bit as well because when they looked at us they saw us carefree and enjoying ourselves.”
Ferguson added: “Ross has done well this season and has played a lot of games. Cole has done well too. I think it’s always good to get the young guys in. They bring that energy.
“As daft as it might sound, that lack of experience means they don’t fear anything. I don’t know them, but hopefully Ross and Cole are like we were and don’t fear anything either.
“I just found it exhilarating. Of course, when you’re coming up against Celtic and coming up against your biggest rivals, even though you’re friendly with some of the guys in the other team, you still know how much it means.
“I certainly think the fans love it when a youngster comes through the ranks don’t they? You love to see your own come through. When I was coming through at Ibrox with Ian, we didn’t feel the pressure, it was more excitement.”
The lifelong Rangers fan has, like so many of his fellow supporters, been delighted with the turnaround which Clement has overseen since replacing Michael Beale at the Glasgow club in October following a disappointing run of results.
One of the things which has impressed Ferguson the most about the Belgian in the past five months is his willingness to take a chance on the prospects who are shining for the age-group sides at Auchenhowie.
The man who made his first team debut at the age of just 15 in the Tom Forsyth testimonial match against Swansea City in 1983 has been disappointed at the number of home-grown footballers his boyhood heroes have produced in recent years.
He is convinced that easing them in to the first team will enable to make a successful transition into the senior game and is far more beneficial than farming them out to lower league sides to gain experience.
“I think there is a lot of talent kicking about,” he said. “But a lot of the boys go out on loan and sometimes that can dent their confidence. Going and playing in the Championship is a totally different kind of football to playing for Rangers as well.
“They just need to be given that platform and Philippe has been doing that. Long may it continue.”
It remains to be seen if Philippe Clement will give winger Ross McCausland and midfielder Cole McKinnon the chance to show what they are capable of on a stage like the Old Firm game against Celtic on Sunday – a match which is being billed by some as a title decider.
But Derek Ferguson is hopeful he will - and is convinced the Rangers kids will be alright if he does.