Rangers coach Barry Ferguson’s head says he saw ‘heart and desire’ in the field in Rugby Park while they organized a dramatic return to win 4-2.
The former captain of Ibrox, who won 15 trophies as a player, ended a whirlpool 48 hours after replacing Philippe Clement while traveling fans cheered his name.
Ferguson is now looking for his players to continue to show the same fight as they went back to strikes by Joe Wright and Brad Lyons for the rest of the season.
“I will not get angry. It was fine, but there are many things to improve and boys know it too,” 47-year-old Sky Sports told.
“They have been under that control, but they have taken the heart and desire.
“I wouldn’t have got the job if I didn’t think I could get out of them. They showed another side tonight.
“I’m not going to take over. It’s just a game. They should now take it on Saturday because they are home and if it’s like after 10 minutes the crowd begins to take over you a touch.
“They have to learn to deal with these situations. By spending the last 24 hours with them, I think they understand that situation now.”
Clinton Nsiala was subjected after 30 minutes in Rugby Park
After starting with the same initial XI as Clement Clement his position with a 2-0 loss to St. Mirren, Ferguson struck Clinton Nsiala after half an hour fought in Kilmarnock.
“Sometimes during a game when things are not going on your way, you need to make difficult decisions,” Ferguson added.
“Clinton is young, he will recover from him, but I just felt at that stage we had to make the difference and obviously worked for us.
“We started checking the game. We started to calm down with little.
“I thought we were a little tense, but their faith was low enough, so you have to be careful with that.
“I told them they are playing in a great club, there is expectations and demand for you and you have to handle these, and I thought they handled it, the last 10-15 minutes of the first half and of course the second 45, they were excellent.”
What did the experts say
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Barry Ferguson’s Rangers turned 2-0 down to get all three points against Kilmarnock in his first match in the top
Sky Sports Pundites discussed Ferguson’s debut at Dugout Rangers:
Former Rangers Captain Steven Davis:
“Absolutely brilliant, I think the first half of an hour he would be really disappointed, but of course after that there was a big reaction from the team.
“They will be absolutely pleased to win victory. It’s not easy coming from two goals back here in Kilmarnock, so he will go home a happy man.”
Former Rangers Cris Boyd:
“I think after that first half hour. You’re thinking, ‘Where will this go?’ And, all of a sudden, it turns out that there are the same problems that the Rangers have faced throughout the season.
“You have to give credit to the players Barry Ferguson undoubtedly replaced, brought to Yilmaz, moved some players around, and then you saw the Rangers click and get a good purpose shortly before half the time.
“The second half, they fully dominated it and I think you can be satisfied with the performance after 30 minutes, but the same questions will still be asked, the rangers are very, very vulnerable to the established shows.”
Former Scotland striker James McFadden:
“He’s been brought inside to try and restore the team with supporters and remove all moods. The way the planned game actually could not be better to come from two goals down.
“As much as he wouldn’t have wanted to come from two goals down, these fans have probably enjoyed it.
“We talked widely how little time the training staff of Barry Ferguson had to work with the players and then Barry spoke about how he wanted his team to play, and the ultimate goal of him is to win games.”
Future Rangers matches:
- March 1: Motherwell (H) – Scottish Prime Minister
- March 6: Fenerbahce (a) – Europa League -16 last
- March 13: Fenerbahce (H) – Europa League -16 last
- March 16: Celtic (a) – Scottish Prime Minister, Live in Sky Sports
- March 29: Dundee (a) – Scottish Prime Minister, Live in Sky Sports
