Emptying Ibrox cut Barry Ferguson to his core – 'We can't be having that' (2025)

Ferguson couldn't blame the fans but he's determined to win them back

Barry Ferguson looked agonisingly up at the empty Ibrox stands and it hurt him to the core.

The sight of Rangers’ own fans giving up on the team and walking away was painful. But, although he couldn’t blame them., he can’t be having it. And neither, he says, can his team.

It’s just added more fuel to Ferguson. More fire to deliver for those fans who will again pack out the stadium at kick-off to back their boys once more against Athletic Bilbao.

The boss knows the Light Blues faithful will play their part against the Spaniards, yet he’s also acutely aware that it’s only he and his players who can ensure those seats stay filled until the end in this Euro quarter-final showdown.

Five straight defeats on home soil led to the exodus long before the end of the last one to Hibs and Ferguson confessed honestly: “The place emptied on Saturday. And when I’m standing at a touchline, that’s tough.

“I can’t be having that. My players can’t be having that.

“That’s a sore one to take when you see your own supporters and do you know what? I can’t blame them.

“So us as a group, me as a manager, we’re the only people that can do something about that.

“I’ve no fear in terms of them coming and supporting us at the start of the game. But we have to dictate to the stands. We need to go and give a performance. And if we do that, then the fans will get right behind us.

“Standing in the touchlines watching the place empty, that’s a sore one to take and that’s been in the back of my mind since Saturday.

“I honestly believe that fans can accept you not playing at the level. But what they can’t accept is seeing a team dig deep, run harder, tackle harder. All the things that I mentioned on Saturday.

“And that’s what I have to see from my team going forward because, if that’s not going to be the case, then you’re not going to be on the team.”

When Ferguson addressed his squad on Monday morning following the Hibs debacle, home truths were aired.

Tactics and individual traits would no doubt have been on the table and it’s natural to assume the mentality needed to perform week-in and week-out at the club was also high on the agenda.

Raising themselves for key games, such as this tie against the Spaniards, hasn’t been an issue.

Nonetheless, Ferguson has tackled them and said: “I’ve seen aspects in certain games, mentally strong. But other games, they’re just way off it. You can’t be like that. You can’t.

“It’s not just a switch that you can turn off and on and that’s the case. That’s what we have done. As I said, the big games are the ones, generally, are the easy ones that you don’t really need to motivate.

“It’s the other games that have become a real issue. And that’s something, again, that we spoke about as a group, our blend. Hopefully, we’ve got to the bottom of it.

“I think it affects them when you go a goal down early on or a mistake happens within the team and I keep saying to them, there are plenty of minutes left in the game and I want to see players go and take the ball in difficult situations.

“Look, I can accept mistakes and I can accept poor performances. But what I can’t accept is people not wanting the ball in difficult circumstances. That’s something we’ve spoken about at length.

“Hopefully going forward you’ll see a difference. But the proof will be in the pudding.

"I’m expecting a totally different performance. It’s not just in European games as well. I know five games without a win at Ibrox is just nowhere near good enough.

“I said that on Saturday when I came up and did my presser. I was angry, I was frustrated. It was a mixture of emotions. I thought I had erased some of that out of our game, but it was clear as day there were some issues that we had to sort.

“And, hopefully, the positive week we’ve had, the positive three days we’ve had together, we’ll see that difference.”

Of course, Athletic are going to pose a stiff test and turning the Ibrox tide against such strong opposition will be no easy task.

But Ferguson said: “They’re a very good team. We’re under no illusions that it’s going to be a tough task.

“So we’ve worked hard over the last couple of days on what way we’re going to set up in terms of stopping them dictating the game because we’re at home and we have to take the game to them. We have to take the game to Bilbao.

“We’re set up and we’re going to give it everything to try and get a good result to take over there next Thursday.

“In my opinion, they’ve got quality all over the team. Certainly in the wide areas, you’ve got the two brothers, Williams. They’re going to be a real handful, but I look at midfield. Technically, very good. Very hard-working. Defensively, really solid.

“So we know as a group of players that we have to be at the top of our game to try and get a result.”