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Barry Ferguson wowed by what James Bisgrove has revealed about Rangers grilling
Barry Ferguson has been wowed by the results of the grilling Philippe Clement underwent from Graham Souness before being appointed as the new Rangers manager.
Writing for the Daily Record on Thursday (19 October), the pundit said it seems like the pair went “at it” and exchanged views during their talks in London after what James Bisgrove revealed in the press conference on Tuesday (17 October).
The former Gers captain said he didn’t get the “kind of grilling” the Belgian got last week when he played under Souness at Blackburn, but that anyone who can stand up to his former boss deserves “serious consideration”.
“It’s been interesting to hear from James Bisgrove on how he and the board sought out Graeme Souness’ advice and assistance while going through the interview process,” said Ferguson.
“From what the chief executive has told us, it seems like my old Blackburn boss and the Belgian went at it during their talks in London, exchanging views and challenging each other on how they see the future of Rangers panning out.
“And believe me, anyone who can stand up to Graeme Souness and hold their own when he’s in full flow deserves serious consideration. I was really excited to sign for Souey when he asked me to join him at Ewood Park back in 2003.
“I didn’t get the kind of grilling Clement got last week during the transfer negotiations but I saw for myself how forceful he was when he wanted to put his point across. I’ll be honest, my first couple of games down there for Rovers were bang average and he didn’t hang about telling me what he thought.”
Tough-talking
It sounds like there was some seriously tough-talking going on between Souness and Clement last week before the latter was appointed as the Rangers boss.
It was a different approach for the board to get someone like the no-nonsense Scotsman, who knows the club extremely well, involved to help with the process.
It would have been interesting to hear what the pair’s thoughts were on how the Gers can move forward, but Souness was clearly impressed by the Belgian after he was eventually appointed as Michael Beale’s successor on Sunday (15 October).
Clement comes across as someone who has a real presence about him, so he will likely demand a lot from his players and will be hoping to command their instant respect.
He has a difficult job on his hands trying to turn them into a side that can challenge for trophies, but he will be confident he can get them moving in the right direction based on his previous experiences in management.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton has shared an “absolutely massive” opportunity for Clement at Ibrox.