GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 04: Rangers Interim Head Coach Barry Ferguson during a William Hill Premiership match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox Stadium, on May 04, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
What’s the key to Rangers knocking Celtic out of the League Cup quarter-finals this weekend?
That’s a lot simpler than you might think and it can be summed up in one word.
Aggression.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting for a minute they should set out to kick their rivals off the pitch or send people five feet up in the air.
Yes you are Barry. That is exactly what you want to see. It is why you are a managerial has-been in your forties.
BARRY FERGUSON KNOWS THE SCRIPT
Stints at Clyde, Kelty and Alloa was as good as it gets. A spell as Ibrox caretaker led to nothing else. Back on the circuit of Daily Record, Go Radio and rabble rousing hospitality guests at Ibrox.
That’s not the kind of aggression I’m talking about.
No, I’m talking about a Rangers team that sets out to knock Celtic out of their stride.
To chase after them, press them and harass them for every ball. To force them on to the back foot from the first minute and make life so chaotic for them out there that they are struggling to catch a breath.
Maybe not the best phrase to use Barry but we know exactly what you mean.
More like it Barry. You are getting closer to it. Much like Kris Boyd when he wanted one of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s players to test out Callum McGregor’s face mask.
Don’t let them feel their way into the game or move the ball around the pitch at their own pace. To tell you the truth, I’m sick of watching Celtic sides come to Ibrox and enjoy themselves out there.
It’s happened way too often over the years and that is a big reason why they’ve been so dominant for so long.
Put it this way, if you’re wearing a green and white shirt inside that stadium tomorrow, you should be made to hate every single second of it.
Some great tactical insight there.
Ferguson hasn’t really moved on from putting on his club trackie and heading to The Bothwell Bridge after a heavy defeat.
The Daily Record loves that sort of content.
They have to feed their declining army of 30,000 buyers something to engage with. Something to deflect from Celtic’s domination, to make bears feel good about themselves.
It should be the kind of uncomfortable ordeal that you don’t look forward to experiencing again.
That is what I mean by aggression. And, perhaps most importantly of all, if Rangers go about their business in this sort of aggressive manner from the off, what do you think happens next?
I’ll tell you what happens – they’ll bring 50,000 fans with them and the whole environment will become even more noisy, hostile and intimidating for Martin O’Neill and his side. Don’t give them time to think, never mind settle or feel their way into the tie.
Got there.
The anthems of hate, the matchday experience.
Without a few thousand away fans all of the hatred can be directed onto the pitch.
With the approval and backing of Premier Sports and Radio Scotland turning a deaf ear.
While idiots like Graeme Souness drool on about the famous atmosphere.
And don’t forget the knuckledusters and masks for the post match pitch invasion.
The middle aged bears coming out the enclosure to assault Celtic staff members.
All part of the wonderful atmosphere.
Much loved by the Daily Record as they follow follow their favourite club into a grave.
Ferguson concluded with
Regardless of the formation or the personnel, it’s aggression that can give Rangers the result they need.
I’m happy to let my heart rule my head and predict that’s exactly what they’ll get… and that they’ll get it done in 90 minutes.
Barry’s prediction: Rangers 2, Celtic 1
Exactly the same as every other Glasgow Derby. Barely a word about football, formation or tactics.
Alas for Ferguson his rant will only carry some meaning for James Penrice and Young Findlay Curtis.
The other players wouldn’t know who Ferguson is, or care for his thinly veiled rants for a fast fading Glasgow publisher.
Derek McInnes here chanting the Billy Boys – a chant used by l, and synonymous with, the leader of the KKK in Scotland in the 1930s.
Not for the first time either.
pic.twitter.com/tUEBu0WO7P pic.twitter.com/DGGDMphcLD— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) May 1, 2026
If i was a player, i would use it to ram it back up them COYBIG
All over the media , stoking it up
Battle fever, aggression , war , etc
Every time in the weeks leading up to an Us v Them game
and then sit point the finger and go tut tut if anything happens
I actually thought it was Ferguson who’d said about targetting CalMac with his face mask but Boyd and Ferguson have much in common.
You can clearly see why that little rat Ferguson didn’t succeed in football management, his only armament is hatred.
If you took his words away from the Glasgow derby then it’s the definition of terrorism and the sort of level the Daily Rancid’s been at since Traynor & Co were there and probably even before that fat, little, orange prick. Airdrie supporter, my arse.
Ferguson was the manager of the team (Alloa) that shattered McGregor’s cheekbone in the first place.
Also pretty much ended Idagucchi’s Celtic career the same evening.
Yes, Barry’s “style” is a real loss to modern football.