Derek Ferguson worries that John Souttar may have exposed discord in the Rangers locker room amidst a difficult start to the season following a disappointing summer.
During his press conference duties on August 16, the Gers center back delivered uncomfortable replies when asked how long it would take the team to get up to speed under Philippe Clement.
Ferguson also noticed possible problems from watching the players throughout a run of disappointing preseason results, so he wasn’t shocked to see indications that something was wrong behind the scenes. “There might be,” he said exclusively to Ibrox News. “I’m saying that because I watched all the preseason games, and sometimes you look at the players’ body language, and it didn’t look too clever to me in certain games.” “Well, that caught my attention. Additionally, there may be some dispute there as this is an accomplished player with a lot of life experience.
Sometimes you simply need to box smart when you’re talking to the media, and you keep that inside. It simply raises a few minor red flags. But occasionally, you just have a feeling that things aren’t as they seem. The relationships between players, cameradery, just watching games and sometimes watching them outside—I don’t know, it’s just not there.
We are having difficulties in a lot of areas. I’m all gloomy, but when you consider the situation the Rangers are in right now, it’s really frightening.
The Rangers’ loss to Celtic increases the pressure at Ibrox. Before the season began, Ferguson was already concerned about what he had seen in the players and the manager, and the season’s halting start will have further increased his concerns.
Souttar was understandably morose after the controversial exit from Champions League qualifying, but seemed to indicate a lack of belief in the current operation when quizzed on his manager’s plans.
Any positivity that was subsequently built up by the 6-0 win over Ross County on 24 August and some late movement in the transfer market since then was comprehensively blown away by a dismal loss at Celtic on 1 September straight after the widow closed.
Clement had suggested it would be weeks into the season before his work-in-progress side was firing on all cylinders, and after the Parkhead defeat pointed to the first return at Ibrox in January as the time to pass real judgment.
However, if issues exist behind the scenes, there’s still a chance that things could deteriorate in the interim.
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