‘This one hurts’ ‘Laughing in my face’ ‘sticks in my throat’ Barry Ferguson relives his Celtic nightmare

Barry Ferguson has been sharing his hurt and pain from a front row viewing of Celtic’s victory in the Glasgow Derby.

The former Alloa and Clyde boss now has an ambassador’s role at Ibrox alongside his media work with the Daily Record and Go Radio.

In his post-match media interviews Phil Clement was all over the place with excuses ranging from the ages of the two teams, the possibility of a 3-3 draw and clinging on to the positives from a 6-0 win over Ross County a week earlier.

It was bizarre behaviour, the modern manager is regularly fed stats to deflect away from scorelines but on Sunday Clement went way too far when a few home truths would have earned him a little respect.

Ferguson’s acknowledges that Celtic are the better team but watching the match unfold he felt very uncomfortable at the lack of character, fight and leadership in Clement’s side.

In the Record Ferguson admitted:

I’m not going to lie. This one hurts. Maybe it was because I was there to watch it with my own eyes, sitting in the directors’ box at Parkhead. Perhaps it was the joy on the faces of the Celtic fans when they were doing their wee huddle dance and laughing in my face when their team was 3-0 up. It was interesting, let’s just leave it at that.

But mainly, the hurt and disappointment I’ve been left nursing was caused by a Rangers performance which was simply not good enough on derby day in Glasgow’s east end. To be honest, I’ve still got an empty feeling inside more than 24 hours later and that’s not like me. Normally, I’d get up in the morning after a sore one like that and think to myself, ‘it’s a new day and a fresh start’. But there was something about the way Rangers unravelled on Sunday afternoon which has left a lingering sense of frustration.

There’s an old saying in the game that says there’s a proper way to lose a match. I’m not sure I ever really agreed with that on the basis that I couldn’t stand being on the wrong end of any defeat against any opposition. But what I saw on Sunday was certainly not the Rangers I expected. Yes, all right, they had a good opening 10 minutes. I actually enjoyed watching it because they were aggressive in the way they were going after Celtic and pressing them from the front.

But who cares about having a good 10 minutes when the game lasts for 90? What annoyed me the most was that, as soon as Celtic got up the pitch for the first time and Kyogo Furuhashi put the ball in Jack Butland’s net, it looked as if their heads went.

All of a sudden they seemed to be spooked by the occasion and from that moment they didn’t make Celtic really have to work for the three points. And that’s the bit that really sticks in my throat.

Two years ago Ferguson told Record readers that Giovanni van Bronckhorst had Ange Postecoglou sussed, the next day Celtic notched up a 4-0 win in the Glasgow Derby.

The problems at Ibrox are multiple but the bottom line is that Celtic have a better team, better squad and are better managed and coached.

No one is currently putting forward a case for any of Clement’s players to be included in a Combined XI, it would be a stretch to justify a case for any getting on the bench when you look at what Rodgers had to bring on during Sunday’s match.

The next four months are all about management, working with the current squad before the January transfer window opens but when the Glasgow rivals meet again on January 2 it will almost certainly involve exactly the same group of players, as will a possible League Cup tie.