Ibrox Noise has always been a big admirer of Barry Ferguson, even if a lot of Rangers fans have absolutely no interest in him. He’s truly one of us, even if he can be outspoken (cough) at times, and his words today completely nailed what it is to be a Ranger, and why so many fans’ mentality is absolutely and totally wrong.
One dear friend of Ibrox Noise, who will remain anonymous, said about our fellow fans last night:
“Support is infested with mediocrity accepting sycophants.”
And our friend is absolutely right.
And Barry’s words echo this sentiment:
“I always had a special word of advice for any new signing, just moments before he ran out at Ibrox for the first time. You’ve got 10 minutes mate”. Or words to that effect. Sometimes “I’d get a kind of startled, puzzled looking response. “Ten minutes? What are you talking about?” Trust me, 10 minutes later, no explanation was required. These guys might think they’ve seen and done it all in football but they soon realise there’s no bigger eye opener than your first introduction to the demands of playing in front of the Rangers fans.”
But he gets more serious:
“I saw it for myself with a whole string of new arrivals who cost a right few bob and came from some huge clubs but who couldn’t get their head around why people were growling all around if the team hadn’t hit the ground running from kick-off. They’d walk into the dressing room at half time and say, ‘What’s the problem here, we’re drawing 0-0?’. The smart ones worked it out pretty quickly. When you pull on that shirt you have to win – even if you’re playing tiddlywinks. It doesn’t matter. You have to be on the front foot, peppering the opposition goal.”
Despite the ‘it’s only preseason give them a chance ffs’ brigade, the reality is even at tiddlywinks v Alloa in another country on Christmas Day, Rangers are expected to win. It’s in our DNA. Even preseason.
Barry goes on:
“You’re expected to come in 2-0 up. And if the fans aren’t happy then roll up your sleeves and do something about it. They’ve got every right to get on your back if you don’t.”
And that’s what there’s not enough of these days as our dear friend alluded to – too many fans in Rangers’ support will accept ‘giving someone a chance’ or ‘give it time’ – they want to support things which aren’t good enough, patently aren’t good enough, and they believe in a liberal approach to support, and not a ruthless one which is traditionally Rangers.
This final piece Barry says actually fills us with pride that someone as big as he understands, gets it:
“The good players got it. But there were plenty of others who just couldn’t ever quite get to grips with it. How many? How long have you got? I used to suffer the same myself. If I wasn’t on it from kick-off I knew they’d soon be growling at me too. So for the time being, I’ll reserve judgment on this summer’s new arrivals even if a few of them might already be scratching their heads and wondering why there’s been such a disgruntled reaction to a couple of home defeats in pre-season friendlies. Welcome to Rangers boys. You’ll never have experienced expectation and pressure like this at any other club. You probably never will again. So produce the goods and make the most of it because that’s what life at this club is all about. And it brings the best out of proper football players.”
We love this, absolutely love this, and we also love the supportive response it’s received as well from vast swathes of the fanbase.
He’s bang on, it’s time for our supporters to get ruthless – support yes, but don’t accept mediocrity and second best and pretend it’s better than it is.
If Sima is garbage so far, call it out (many have), if Tavernier has been awful, be honest about it (many are), if Lammers has been good, praise him (many have).
That’s what we deserve as Rangers fans, the best.
Simply the Best.
Watching Hoffenheim game. Want to give the team and the club unstinting support, but have to agree with Barry and IN. When we signed Sima I was annoyed we did not have a loan to buy agreement. Now I thank God every day. Neither fullback looks like he can defend, FFS! If the plan is not a back three, need FBs that can defend. Move Ykeko out to LB, he is not doing it yet at LCB.
Too soon to judge Dessers, not fit, but Lammers looks good.
RTID
Scotswhahae
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