The Light Blues have had a slow start to the season, with several new arrivals struggling to adjust.
Derek Ferguson believes Michael Beale’s judgment was “clouded” when he investigated what was wrong at his previous club.
The Rangers manager is under fire following a sluggish start to the season in which they have lost two of their first four league games and failed to qualify for the Champions League due to a big defeat to PSV. The board is thought to be willing to demonstrate some patience with its man, but some fans have lost theirs.
Beale brought in NINE players over the summer and was given free rein to do so with no director of football in place. Large sums of money were spent on forward players Danilo, Cyriel Dessers, and Sam Lammers, but they have yet to impress.
Former Ibrox midfielder Ferguson isn’t convinced they’re a step up from what the club already has or the players that were allowed to leave at the end of last season.
“We’ve got Danilo, £6m, sitting on the bench,” he told Open Goal. Dessers is behind the times. It doesn’t appear like when you bring in new players, they have to be better than what you already have.
“We’ve discussed Morelos and Kent, and the players we’ve brought in don’t look as good.” Cifuentes, who was brought in late in the game, does not play (against Celtic).
“He hasn’t addressed the issues we have at the back in terms of fullbacks.” I believed he’d altered things up because of that, bringing in another pair of centre backs, playing three at the back, and bringing the full backs up higher. It undoubtedly does (suit better), but he hasn’t said it.
“There are a lot of things to do and questions to answer. We were looking forward to it since we were going up against a Celtic team that was under-strength, and I thought we’d have enough to win.”
Ferguson is also concerned that the manager’s increased responsibility in terms of recruitment is “clouding his judgment,” which is why the move from being a coach has been so difficult.
“You talk to a lot of people, and we all know he’s a great coach,” he remarked. But managing is a completely different story. I just think that with all he’s taken on, including signing all of the players, his judgment has become clouded.”
When asked if the under-pressure Englishman can turn things around, he replied, “I’m not so sure with what we’ve seen so far.” He needs to win the League Cup in order to keep his job.
“He has spoken very well and has told us what he intends to deliver, but he has not delivered.”
