Barry Ferguson’s future with Rangers cloudy

By: j | April 3rd, 2009

Barry Ferguson’s future with the Rangers has been clouded as he has the club has ended his captaincy reign. The move comes after his highly disrespectful behaviour in representing Scotland that started with a late evening drinking bout with Allan McGregor.

Following Scotland’s victory over Iceland on Wednesday night, the thirty-one year old midfielder who has nearly three-hundred appearances for the Gers, was photographed flashing a “V” sign. More than anything that apparently set Walter Smith off resulting in both Ferguson and McGregor being sent home from practice.

The club is expected to suspend both for the maximum allowable amount of two weeks and in conjunction with the financial disarray the envelopes the Gers balance sheet, it is very likely that both will be up for the taking this transfer season.

In a lengthy statement issued on the clubs web-site, Walter Smith said:

“They were sent home from training today and they will return later when they will meet Martin Bain, our chief executive, and the Club will make a statement after that.

“It’s not something that we would have wanted but the timing of it is not in our own control. We have to react to the circumstances and it’s regrettable that it has happened at this time.

“Obviously what happened last Sunday with Scotland players is regrettable. Then we had an incident on Wednesday with two players from our own club and that’s what we have had to act on.

“We have to respect the fact that George (Burley)will handle the international part of it but certainly from our own point of view it is regrettable that we had a few players involved in that situation.

“It was the acts of the players that caused us to move on this situation more than anything else.

“The disciplinary aspect of what happened at the weekend is something for George to act on. We are unhappy with the situation and any manager who had players involved in that would be the same.

“The most disappointing aspect for me was the subsequent reaction on the bench and from the club’s point of view I don’t think that was a good image to portray.

“I would feel it would be embarrassing for the players when they saw the images portrayed the next morning and that relates to your club as well and that was disappointing.

“I’m disappointed that we’re having to take the action that we are taking. We don’t want to do it but we have to react to a situation that the Club has been put in, in the sense that it is an embarrassment to the Club.

“These are not actions that we have taken lightly because it doesn’t help us from a football point of view but we had to take them.

“We hope that this does not affect us adversely in the Championship and we hope that we have the players to cover but we will just have to wait and see.

“Both players have been playing regularly and both are good players so it’s disappointing that we have had to take the decision that we have done.”