BARRY FERGUSON took over a Rangers team that had long gone beyond the crisis point.
Three weeks later, he has the legions of Light Blues fans believing that good times could be on the way once more.
Barry Ferguson led Rangers to victory at Celtic Park[/caption]
He’s also led the Light Blues to the Europa League quarter-finals[/caption]
The on-field setup has changed since Philippe Clement’s dismissal[/caption]
Hamza Igamane struck a brilliant winner in the derby[/caption]
Few could have foreseen Rangers legend Ferguson, 47, being installed as the club’s manager.
But that’s exactly what happened when Philippe Clement was shown the door three weeks ago on Sunday.
The Belgian was axed after a dire 2-0 home defeat to St Mirren, a loss that came just a fortnight after THAT horror show against Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup.
Ferguson was appointed caretaker manager the following day.
It hasn’t been plane sailing for him.
A gutsy, come-from-behind win at Kilmarnock was quickly followed by a reality check in the form of a 2-1 home defeat to Motherwell.
But just three weeks after taking the helm until the end of the season, former Gers captain Ferguson had managed something no Light Blues manager has for almost FIVE years.
That’s beat Celtic in their own home.
Sunday’s 3-2 triumph was Rangers’ first victory at Parkhead since Connor Goldson struck twice in the first derby clash of the 2020/21 season.
It was a win that came just three days after Ferguson also led Rangers into a Europa League quarter-final, seeing-off Fenerbahce on penalties after what was a nervy night at Ibrox to say the least.
As well as those big results, it appears as though Ferguson has managed to get the Rangers fan base back on side and perhaps for the first time in quite a while, feeling connected to the team again.
Prior to Sunday’s Old Firm clash, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers said: “I see the team that is still doing what they’ve done all season.”
However, it WAS very much a different Rangers that headed out onto the Celtic Park turf.
Ferguson’s tactical tweaks were there to be seen and they’re tweaks that have reaped success.
SunSport takes a look at the tactical changes made by Ferguson that have changed the tune for the Rangers team.
New formation
The obvious one is that Ferguson has asked his team to play in a different formation.
Previous boss Clement refused to budge from his favoured 4-3-3 formation.
Very rarely would the Belgian employ something different even if his team was chasing a result.
Clement claimed that changing formation would “only create more doubts.”
In the first leg against Fenerbahce, Ferguson went for the big change.
Doing something Clement hadn’t done at all during his reign, he opted for a back five, three central defenders and two wing-backs.
Given the success on the continent, few could’ve been surprised when Ferguson once again decided to unleash the same formation at Celtic Park.
Press, press, press
Rangers players were given a major license to press[/caption]
A common gripe of Rangers fans in recent Old Firm encounters, especially those at Celtic Park, has been that they’ve given the Hoops too much respect.
Plenty of punters felt the Light Blues headed to Celtic Park with fear.
Rangers teams have gone to Parkhead and tried to soak up the pressure, sit back and rarely attack.
On Sunday, it couldn’t have been more different – as if they’d gone from fearful to fearless.
Ferguson has set his side out aggressively.
From the off, Vaclav Cerny, Cyriel Dessers and the entire midfield were piling the pressure on Celtic, giving them no time on the ball.
The pressure led to a couple of early corners, with Nicolas Raskin netting the opener just four minutes in.
Rangers were aggressive and the immense pressure and sitting so high almost paid perfect dividends.
Cerny nipped in to steal the ball from a poor Kasper Schmeichel clearance but with the goal at his mercy, he took too long.
But it was a clear sign of the aggressive, front-foot football Ferguson is trying to imprint on his side.
The pressure, two, was coming from the flanks with James Tavernier and Ridvan Yilmaz constantly given license to push RIGHT up the park and further press the Hoops backline.
Big match verdict
By BILL LECKIE
IT was chaotic. It was furious. It brimmed over with hate.
Let’s be honest, there when times when it was utterly vile.
But no matter how much days like these make the blood boil and the stomach turn, they somehow also drag your eyes to them and won’t let you look away.
That’s the irresistable bit about the Old Firm, the unmissable bit, the unforgettable bit.
Parkhead on a Sunday lunchtime in mid-March was all of the above and so much more besides, a cauldron of excitement and of loathing, of downright stupidity – even the odd moment of that magical thing we call football.
And two minutes from the end of the 90, it all came together, all the passion, all the hate, all the knuckle-headedness, in an astonishing winner from Rangers sub Hamza Igamane and the scenes that followed it.
Celtic’s stand-in skipper Cameron Carter-Vickers will re-watch the video and ask himself why he ducked under a long ball that was his to win all day long. Right-back Alistair Johnston will be checkng and re-checking his boots to work out why he fell on his backside as the ball dropped.
The young Moroccan?
He’ll never tire of seeing that touch out of his feet and the thunderous drive that ripped past Kasper Schmiechel’s left hand and ripped into the postage stamp corner.
Read Bill Leckie’s Big Match Verdict in full here
A front two
While it was indeed a similar setup to the Fenerbahce encounters, it wasn’t exactly the same.
Against the Turkish giants, Ferguson had deployed what was essentially a front three.
Cyriel Dessers led the line with Cerny and Mohamed Diomande flanking him – both essentially in ‘number 10’ roles.
Against Celtic, it was a front two.
Diomande dropped into a more traditional, central No10 role.
Cerny was pushed right up alongside Dessers in a central position.
This allowed them to press in tandem, continuing the constant pressure on the Celtic defenders when they had the ball.
Even out of possession, the the front two remained with Diomande dropping a little deeper to join Connor Barron and Raskin.
Discipline and keeping the shape
The Gers kept a disciplined shape throughout[/caption]
Another key to Rangers’ victory was a defined shape and being disciplined enough to keep that shape.
Clement’s side – as well as the team under Michael Beale before him – had sometimes come under fire for a lack of organisation.
For Clement, at least, it often led to the feeling that the Gers never really seemed in control of any matches.
Ferguson’s change of system has brought in a big element of control.
Rarely did the centre-back trio get drawn out of position to chase after runners.
Instead, that job was left to Barron and Raskin who worked tirelessly in getting back to cover.
This discipline and the midfield assistance meant that Celtic were unable to find the kind of space they normally do.
Instead, they were often restricted to having a pop from distance or trying to work the ball into the box at a somewhat slower pace than they’re used to.
On the one occasion Barron lost his man, Celtic scored.
It was arguably the one and only moment Rangers’ shape deserted them and it proved costly as Reo Hatate found the net.
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