Rangers boss Barry Ferguson insists he will still make changes to his side for the visit of Athletic Bilbao, despite a “long, long chat” about his expectations after the team’s defeat to Hibs.
Ferguson is looking to guide his side to a win over Athletic in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie at Ibrox on Thursday. But the manager will need to lift his side after another domestic disappointment in the shape of a 2-0 home loss to Hibernian last Saturday.
In the wake of that defeat, a clearly furious Ferguson vowed to make changes, saying what he saw “was miles from being a Rangers team”.
He revealed he had a meeting with his squad to pick over the defeat but is still minded to change the personnel, and perhaps the system, for what will be a tough challenge against a strong Athletic Bilbao side.
“In terms of considering other people to play, of course I am,” he said. “I said that on Saturday.
“There will be some changes. You’ll just need to wait to see what they are tomorrow night.
“I’ve told everybody that there’s places up for grabs. You need to earn your right to play in my team.
“I will have to make some difficult decisions going forward but I’ve had to make some difficult decisions since I’ve come into the job.
“It’s one thing I’m not afraid to do, to try and better the team. I’ve got a job to do to try and pick the 11 I think is the one that will go and win the game.
“And that’s what I’ve done for tomorrow night.”
The former Rangers captain revealed that a team meeting on Monday had seen people air their views on what had gone wrong in what was a fifth consecutive defeat at Ibrox, but that he felt it had ended positively and the team now know what is expected in the remainder of the season, starting with Thursday’s test.
“Saturday and Sunday were difficult, we got in on Monday morning and let’s just say we had a long, long chat,” Ferguson said. “I aired my views, so did the staff and the players, which I was happy with because we’ve been too quiet.
“So it was good. And then we got to train on Monday to prepare for this game tomorrow night.
“I would rather keep it in house. But I thought the time was right to spend a bit of time with them and go through a lot of things I clearly wasn’t happy with.
“It’s good to get their point of view as well, because we need to get to the bottom of it. It’s been a real issue.
“I came out of the meeting, training was bubbly on Monday. That’s what I want, I don’t want anyone moping about and being unhappy. There were a lot of things said.
“We had a good session on Tuesday. We’re totally clear on how we’re going to approach the rest of the season, not just tomorrow night.”
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