Barry Ferguson praises Rangers reaction since Old Firm defeat
Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson says the club’s response to defeat against Celtic has been ‘impressive’, following their win over Borussia Dortmund.
Rangers were dominated by their Old Firm rivals just two-and-a-half weeks ago but have bounced back with dominant wins over all of Hearts, Hibernian, Annan Athletic and Dortmund.
With the club performing well and bouncing back after the loss, former skipper Ferguson has sung the praises of Giovanni van Bronckhorst for getting the players all back on the same hymn sheet in his Daily Record column.
“It’s only two weeks since this side got ripped apart at Celtic Park. No one that night could have envisioned them getting a result in Germany the way they crumbled against Ange Postecoglou’s side.
“But the response since has been impressive. Four wins, 14 goals scored and only two conceded. Gio couldn’t have asked for any better.
“Everyone was waiting to see what would happen after the derby disaster but from the first minute of that game against Hearts they’ve been bang at it and it all cumulated in another astonishing performance against Der BVB.
“Sometimes it’s easy when you get a sore one like that Old Firm beating to shut up shop and hide from the flak. But fair play to Gio and his team, it looks to me like they’ve taken on the criticism and responded in exactly the right manner by showing how much they all want to play for Rangers.”
Reaction
What Rangers needed after they got run over by Celtic was a reaction and a positive one at that. That’s exactly what Van Bronckhorst has delivered.
A poor start to the new year cost them top spot in the Scottish Premiership table, but they are now back on track and sometimes it’s better to be the ones hunting than being hunted.
We’ve now seen Celtic’s performances start to falter and they suffered their first defeat in 17 in midweek, which will only put more doubt into their minds and push Rangers on.
That performance at Celtic Park has helped GvB stumble upon a more solid midfield and potent attack after ringing the changes.
They’re scoring goals freely again, look solid at the back and their overall performances have been so much better that it’s hard to see where defeat is coming from any time soon.
In other Rangers news, Rangers to play behind-closed-doors friendly next week v English side – report