Lewis Ferguson admits Rangers rejection drove career progression after Ibrox ambition dashed
Lewis Ferguson has admitted that rejection by Rangers as a teenager has driven him on as he wanted to prove the club wrong.
The Bologna midfielder told Corriere di Bologna (22 January) that as the son and nephew of former Ibrox players Derek and Barry respectively “I had to play for that club when I grew up” and he had “tunnel vision” towards that goal.
But after being let go at 14 the Scotland international, who Gazzetta dello Sport (27 November) termed the “jewel” of his current club whom they don’t want to lose amid interest from the likes of Juventus, Napoli and Lazio, Ferguson says he made a “total leap” mentally.
He said: “With a family like that I didn’t have much other choice: I was born with football in my head, at home, everywhere, always. When I was young I also played for Rangers, in my head I had to play for that club when I grew up.
“I grew up rooting for that team, I didn’t see anything different for me, we say Tunnel Vision. At 14 I was forced to leave: ‘You’re not good enough,’ was the judgement. It was pretty tough.
“After that rejection, however, my mentality changed, there was an outburst. I wanted to prove to those who had rejected me that they were wrong.
“I made a total leap inside my head: at 14-15 years old I understood that I wanted to become a professional with all my strength. I left Hamilton, the club in my town near Glasgow. They are great. They bring out the best in the kids and it was like that for me too.”
One that got away
It is always easy to say with hindsight but Rangers certainly let one slip through their fingers with Ferguson, which would be frustrating enough for any player from the academy set up, but with his family history perhaps even more so.
Philippe Clement would no doubt love to have the former Aberdeen attacking midfielder in his squad at Ibrox right now, but the chances of the 24-year-old ever following in his father’s footsteps look extremely slim now, at least until the tail end of his career.
Ross McCausland may be a fixture in the Light Blues first team currently but the number of academy graduates making the breakthrough meaningfully has been lacking for some time.
The likes of Alex Lowry, Leon King and Robby McCrorie have had some involvement without establishing themselves, with the latter seemingly on the brink for years.
Clearly the need to always win now makes it difficult for managers to take risks on unproven youngsters, but developing homegrown talent must be part of any Gers boss’ remit.
When the club cycles through managers at one per season like currently that is far harder to do, but if Clement can remain in place longer term perhaps the likelihood of letting the next Ferguson leave too early will be reduced.
In other Rangers news, the club have “confirmed” progress is being made on another new signing who will “definitely” be arriving within days.
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