Kirk Broadfoot has warned the current Rangers squad that reputations will count for nothing unless they get their fingers out.
Former skipper Barry Ferguson has taken interim charge and his former Light Blues teammate knows that nobody will escape his wrath unless the team dramatically ups its game. Broadfoot – who worked under Ferguson when he was manager at Blackpool – knows second best won’t be an option and told the Rangers squad they will feel the fury of Fergie if they don’t raise their standards. It was poor domestic results like the Scottish Cup exit to Queen’s Park and Premiership defeats to St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Aberdeen that have left them lagging 13 points behind leaders Celtic.
“He just knows the club and Rangers probably needs something like Fergie just now,” Broadfoot claimed. “Rangers have gone down the foreign route and also the English route and maybe these previous managers didn’t quite understand the club as much.
“Now you’ve got somebody who knows Rangers inside and out. I’ll be honest, the players will feel his wrath. He won’t stand for anything less than 100 per cent. He certainly wouldn’t be accepting some of the results that Rangers have had domestically this season.
“Barry knows what it takes. When you’re a Rangers captain, you get the blame for everything. He dealt with everything and I think that’s why he was such a good Rangers captain.
“He is so mentally strong and so demanding. Luckily, he demanded enough that he won so many trophies as Rangers captain and that’s what it’s all about really.”
Ferguson is likely to come in and shake up the dressing room. Coming in will be a culture shock to a Rangers squad that has played second fiddle most of the season. Broadfoot warned: “If he’s the same guy I know, he’ll not stand for anything other than 100 per cent and wins.
“That’s the way Rangers are. It’s the end of the world if you draw, never mind lose. That’s the way it’s going to be and Fergie knows it inside out being captain and being there so many years and winning so much.
“He will get these boys going. Fergie knows what is needed and required to be a Rangers player. He won’t stand for a lot of those recent results. Every player will know what it means to play for the jersey.
“He’s Rangers through and through and he demands the highest of standards. Obviously, I played with him, lived with him for a year down at Blackpool and then he became my manager. He’s got such high standards that everybody in that dressing room will know what it’s like to be a Rangers player and the demands and the standards that come with being at Rangers.”
Ferguson remembers the day that his skipper took Jean-Claude Darcheville to task after his move to Ibrox from Bordeaux in 2007. “Darcheville had a good career in France and obviously within the first couple of weeks. Fergie had a right go at him,” the former Morton defender recalled.
“He couldn’t understand why Fergie was shouting at him because it was only training. Darcheville had a wee go back but Fergie was just getting him going, getting him into the way at Rangers.
“He didn’t care who you were, they came after you if you didn’t think you were pulling your weight for the jersey. He was very demanding, if I’m being honest.
“He didn’t accept anything other than 100% everyday. I’m not talking just on a game, every day he was on you, constantly on you. To be honest, if you didn’t have that strong mindset you would have crumbled.
“He was so demanding. Probably at the time you didn’t realise why he was doing it. You almost thought he was picking on you, but he wasn’t.
“He was just trying to get the best out of you. Now that you’re a bit older you realise that he just wanted to win and he would win at any cost. It didn’t matter whose toes he stepped on, he was going to win. You need that as a Rangers captain. You need to be on people because the fans don’t accept anything but wins.”
Broadfoot saw Ferguson take his first steps into management and lost a flat mate in the process, when he took over from Paul Ince and Alex Rae at Blackpool. He explained: “Gary MacKenzie and I had just sat down for lunch and Barry told us we had to leave right away. “We didn’t know what was happening and then in the car he told us he was getting the manager’s job.
“He quickly moved into another flat where I think it was Bob Malcolm that came with him. He moved himself away from the players a wee bit, which I think he probably had to do when you became manager.”
Ferguson, who has since managed at Clyde, Alloa and Kelty Hearts, came in and managed to keep Blackpool in the Championship. Rangers will be hoping he can do something similar and finish the season on a high, allowing the board to work through their current potential takeover.
He admitted: “Training will be hard but it’ll be enjoyable. He gave us a wee boost. The training was really good. It was hard but it was enjoyable. It was all short, sharp games.
“It got the boys going. We won our first game at home to Doncaster and then he kept us in the Championship and then moved on that summer. Hopefully, he gives the Rangers boys a lift and buys the Ibrox board the time to sort things out.”