Barry Ferguson warns Rangers face ‘heavy defeats’ against Fenerbahce and Celtic

Barry Ferguson admits Rangers face “heavy defeats” against Fenerbahce and Celtic if they perform as they did in losing 2-1 at home to Motherwell.

The Ibrox side came back from 2-0 down to beat Kilmarnock 4-2 at Rugby Park on Wednesday night in the former Gers captain’s first game as interim boss and he could “not believe” what he was watching as they trailed again by two goals at the interval to goals from Luke Armstrong and Tom Sparrow.

Striker Cyriel Dessers reduced the deficit in the 54th minute but the comeback could not be completed as the Light Blues fell to a third successive home defeat for the first time since 2012.

Rangers’ next three games are away and at home in the Europa League last-16 tie against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce before a trip to Celtic Park in the William Hill Premiership.

Ferguson has no doubts as to what might happen in those crucial matches if they turn in the same sort of display.

He said: “It’s clear they will suffer a heavy defeat. I’m not going to sit here and try and kid people on.

“That level of performance, certainly in the first half, is nowhere near the standards that are needed.

“It’s my job now in this short period of time and I’m going to just go and work my backside off to make sure this gets sorted.

“I spoke to them in the dressing room, they understand it. Rangers fans can accept you not playing well. What Rangers fans can’t accept is when your team gets run over the top of in the first 45 minutes.

“Yeah, we created a few half-chances, but I said on Friday, when you’re playing at Ibrox, you need to be the dominant force. Motherwell dominated us in the first half.

“Did we dominate them in the second half? At times, but not enough.”

Ferguson admitted Rangers got it all wrong from the start, which forced him into making three changes at the interval with Leon Balogun, Nedim Bajrami and Tom Lawrence on for Robin Propper, Hamza Igamane and Ianis Hagi.

The former Clyde, Kelty Hearts and Alloa boss said: “The start – it was nowhere near good enough.

“Did I get a kick out of them in the second half after making three changes? I shouldn’t have to make those changes.

“I shouldn’t have had to do what I did on Wednesday night either (make a change after 30 minutes). But I had to, to get a reaction. That’s a concern for me.

“I’m very surprised by that performance. I know I’ve got good players.

“But when you’re at Rangers it’s not just about being a good player. You need to have other attributes.

“I saw a lot of those attributes at Kilmarnock but I didn’t in that first 45 minutes today. That frustrates me and angers me.

“At times I couldn’t believe what I was watching.

“I got a reaction in the second half but was it enough? Clearly it wasn’t because we didn’t take anything from the game.”

After beginning his tenure at Motherwell last week with 1-0 defeat at Dundee United, German boss Michael Wimmer recorded his first victory against Dundee in midweek before the win at Ibrox in which his side fought like “lions” to get the three points.

He said: “I am very happy, I am very proud of the guys, they did it really well.

“It went just as I did in my mind before the game. The guys found the right balance between high press and low press.

“Also in possession it was important not to play only long balls. If you do that then you have no time to relax a little bit.

“I was really proud that the second goal was just as we spoke about in analysis.

“This is a great stadium, the atmosphere is perfect, it is brilliant so to win here makes me proud.

“But it is not my work, it is the work from the players on the pitch.

“They worked like lions, they had a lot of courage and a lot of confidence and they deserved to win. I am very proud of them.”