Peter Lovenkrands blasts Barry Ferguson after Rangers developments
Rangers left it late again to somehow rescue a point against Aberdeen on Sunday, with Ianis Hagi the hero at Pittodrie.
Barry Ferguson made several changes to his line-up with an eye already on the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday (17 April).
The Gers have nothing left to play for domestically, although their late goal did stop Celtic getting their hands on the Scottish Premiership trophy for the time being.
Peter Lovenkrands calls out Ferguson decision
Rangers would have hoped to come away from the home leg of their Europa League tie against Bilbao with an advantage, but had to settle for a 0-0 draw.
Given that the Gers played the majority of the tie with 10 men and Liam Kelly also had to be on hand to save a penalty, it was a solid result.
However, there remains a mountain to be climbed in Spain, which led the interim boss to make huge changes to rest players at Aberdeen.
James Tavernier was required to replace the injured Rafael Fernandes in the first half, and further senior players were introduced as the game went on.
Peter Lovenkrands has criticised the decision to make so many changes, arguing that it reflects a wider problem at Ibrox.
Speaking on the Scottish Football Social Club podcast on 14 April, he said: “No, I get it, but for me personally, I wouldn’t have done that.
“I think as Rangers football team, you go and win every game there is, and I remember myself playing, you don’t want to get rested, you don’t want to miss certain games.
“I wanted to play every game, and I was the same in our great European run in the Champions League. I didn’t get rested before the games against Villarreal and Inter Milan. I played every game, and I think I wanted to play every game.
“So if I were a player and they said we’re going to rest you for the European game, I would’ve been like, no, I don’t want to get rested. I want to play. It’s all about playing for the team and for the club, and you want to go and win every game.
“So I was very surprised when I saw the line-up.”
Ferguson needs Rangers decision to pay off against Athletic
In the current climate at Ibrox, Ferguson’s decision to rest the majority of his players who will be appearing on Thursday made sense, given it is the only thing left to play for this term.
That being said, as a former player himself, you can understand why Lovenkrands is questioning the wider context in Glasgow as a result.
In an ideal world, the Gers would be putting out their best side against Aberdeen as they would still be in the title race before then shifting the focus to Europe but the reality of that has been far off this term.
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost |
| 33 | 20 | 6 | 7 |
There is no doubt that plenty of changes are needed at Rangers in the summer transfer window but for the time being, those in Light Blue have to be managed effectively which, in this case, meant resting people.
It did take them until the dying seconds, but the fact that the Bears picked up a late equaliser should give them some momentum going into the tie.
If they can get a result away at Athletic and progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League, any criticism of previous decisions will surely be a moot point.