DEREK FERGUSON, the former Rangers player, last night described the current team as average and weak as he blamed Dave King and Mark Warburton for the club’s problems.
Now a respected pundit, Ferguson also admitted to being confused as to why Graeme Murty had not been replaced by a caretaker manager.
Rangers have lost both their league games since Murty took charge and it does seem that the youth coach has been forced into a situation which is not his fault.
“Someone has to get in there to sort out that mess,” said Ferguson. “I don’t think you can point the finger at the players or Murty at this moment. I don’t believe there is a lack of effort or desire, I just think you have a group there which is an average side.
“There are, unfortunately, average players at Rangers right now brought in by Mark Warburton. That’s where the blame should lie.
“Supporters want to know what’s happening and the board, I think, have to stand up. They have a huge responsibility. The fans pay a lot of money and use up their time and effort to go and support their club. They are not getting answers.
“I thought there should have been a manager come in by now; whether it was to take them to the end of this season with a view to bring in someone else. I don’t think Murty is the answer and that’s not having a go at him. He’s worked at a certain level. He’s worked with kids.
“Players don’t respond to that. I’ve been there myself. They will respect him but will they give him everything? I don’t think so.”
A criticism of Rangers all season has been that they are a fragile team. It's an observation Ferguson agrees with.
He said: “There is a softness. They have too many players the same. There are not too many guys within that group who show the hunger and desire of a 38-year-old Kenny Miller.
"You can say they lack leadership throughout the club at every level. If you're going to let the manager leave, you've surely got to have something in place. I've never been on a board, but is it not just common sense? You'd have thought they'd have something lined up.
"They needed leaders. They were making that step up so they needed that bit better quality. I don't think Warburton brought that quality.
"Whether he underestimated our league I don't know. Maybe he did, at the minute it looks like it."
Ferguson feels for the inexperienced Murty who is almost certain to still be in charge for match at Celtic Park a week on Sunday.
"If there are guys they're looking to come in on a short-term basis, guys that aren't working, why not get them in,” he said. “Because it's not fair on Murty at the moment.”
And King did not escape Ferguson’s criticism in terms of the owner’s previous boasts about how much he was willing to spend to return the club to the top.
“When you promise that kind of money the punters will expect to see it," he said. "King says he’s spent £18m but the fans would want to see that on players rather than things like refurbishment and loans.
“It’s about managing expectations. Perhaps he should have been a bit more guarded in that way. He said he wanted to challenge Celtic. Maybe he should have told fans that wasn’t going to happen, that it was about stabilising the club."
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