Rangers legend Barry Ferguson has fired a warning to the Rangers players that there is still work to be done to secure the title.
Ferguson was impressed with Celtic’s performance at St. Mirren in midweek and believes that now the pressure is off them, they are showing a freedom in their play and appear to be gaining confidence.
In his Daily Record feature, the Ibrox legend has stressed to the current Gers squad that they must block out all the noise from elsewhere to concentrate on the job in hand.
After last week’s slip, he insists there is no room for further complacency and now is the time to kill off Celtic.
Fergie stated, “It’s not time to start ringing any alarm bells inside Ibrox just yet.”
“But these past few days will have given the Rangers dressing room a little wake-up call and a timely reminder that this title isn’t in the bag yet. Not by a long shot.”
“What was a 23 point gap just a week or so ago is now down to 18.”
“With one game still in hand and two Old Firm games to be played, this league is not done and dusted the way so many people seemed to think it was just a fortnight or so ago.”
“Which is exactly why the time has come for these Rangers players to give themselves a shake and start hammering the final nails into the coffin.”
Roll up the sleeves
“On Wednesday night I watched Celtic put four past St Mirren and as the goals started flying in during the second half I rolled up the sleeves of my trackie top and thought to myself, ‘Hmmm, this lot are not going away. I’m ready to go here.”
“Go where? The only place I was going on Thursday morning was a trip to the local dump but I wish I had been heading back to that training ground because I’d be having a word with my teammates to make sure they were watching the same thing. That they are ready to sit up and take notice.”
Ferguson continued on that leadership and spirit that he was renowned for, the same message must be conveyed by the likes of Tavernier, McGregor, Davis and Goldson to their peers.
“It’s not something I’d just park at the back of my mind. I’d be talking about it and making sure that the rest of the lads understand what’s at stake here. ‘Did you see them? Here, they were good last night. We’ve got to be ready for this. We can’t afford any more slip ups!’.”
“If they thought Celtic were just going to fritter away points between now and the end of the season well now they know different. Neil Lennon’s side are now playing under absolutely no pressure because everyone else has already written them off. They’re playing with a bit of freedom again and that makes them dangerous.”
“The question is, how do Rangers respond? They need to go into the Kilmarnock match desperate to show people what they are all about.”
That is what everyone – Ferguson, Gerrard and the fans – wants to see.