Ferguson Hands in Transfer Request

[RoyRover]

There's no way we should sell Ferguson, let alone for the reported £3 million that Rangers are offering. I'm glad that the club and manager have come out to say that he is not for sale.

[Morph]

Doesn't Sparky look like a vicar in that Sky Sports picture?

McVicar more like.

[Brownie]

Is it only me wondering why the hell our biggest signing in years only signed a three year contract ? (If the Rangers chairman is correct)

[benhben]

Did Mokoena look good against cardiff? anyone see him? heard he looked good. (as in play well, not look nice) I seriously dont want ferguson to go, Emerton Ferguson Savage MGP looks a very good midfield and should easily keep us in the prem. However if he is adamant on leaving the story of us giving £3m and Gray to B'ham and recieving £4m and Micheal Ball sounds the best deal. Cover at left back, a shocking left back off the wage bill also. With plenty of defensive cover and with Mokoena and savage added to the midfield we should be on the look out for a striker. The £3m spent on Savage would have been far better spent on Ashton in my eyes. But cheap strikers with decent records can be found if enough searching is done. Bolton have proved good players can be cheap.

Edited January 14, 2005 by benhben

[philipl]

Only David Murray is talking about Ferguson being out of contract next year. Every other comment reports two and a half years left.

Murray has spoken in a Glasgow evening peper to the effect that Ferguson has to engineer his own exit from Ewood Park. He has also said that £2.56m falls due to be paid by Rovers NEXT WEEK and that he therefore offered the princely sum of £440,000 in cash!

I would say it is almost worth the Rovers paying a day early and sending it up in used fivers with a pink ribbon round it.

Apart from that, Murray is very dispassionate- they were alerted to the player being available and they created the opportunity for him. If he wants to go back to Glasgow he can.

Perhaps Viola over stated the Fergusons' homesickness and understated his length of contract.

[Krillin]

Only David Murray is talking about Ferguson being out of contract next year. Every other comment reports two and a half years left.

I'm not sure how contracts work, or what term Ferguson agreed to, but maybe it was one of the (seemingly popular) one's that had 'a one year option'.

I think it was mentioned that Mark Hughes has this in his contract and Craig Short and Tugay both took up their options recently.

Maybe Murray has been told that Barry is not going to take up his option ?

I am not sure if this option is down to the player to decide, or whether The Club can enforce it too, but if it was in place it would maybe explain the difference in terms mentioned.

[joey_big_nose]

Only David Murray is talking about Ferguson being out of contract next year. Every other comment reports two and a half years left.

Murray has spoken in a Glasgow evening peper to the effect that Ferguson has to engineer his own exit from Ewood Park. He has also said that £2.56m falls due to be paid by Rovers NEXT WEEK and that he therefore offered the princely sum of £440,000 in cash!

I would say it is almost worth the Rovers paying a day early and sending it up in used fivers with a pink ribbon round it.

Apart from that, Murray is very dispassionate- they were alerted to the player being available and they created the opportunity for him. If he wants to go back to Glasgow he can.

Perhaps Viola over stated the Fergusons' homesickness and understated his length of contract.

Dont my head off for being a bit sad but in football manager, i know its a computer game, contracts work on this basis: For players over 23 when a contract is signed he has two years in which he is under the complete control of the club- they can decide whether to allow him to talk to other teams. After that period the player becomes "unprotected" and other clubs can make offers which only have to be varified by an independent board (transfer tribunal?) and cannot be turned down by the club.

Now, i have never seen the second case actually occour in real football but equally Eidos or whoever makes the game are utterly obsessed with accurate portrayal of this sort of thing. Could this be what Murray means?

[philipl]

No. Viola probably misinformed him or he is wilfully misleading the Rangers supporters who must be wondering why he has bid such a micky mouse number.

Ferguson's contract expires June 2007. Obviously david murray is wishing his life away!

[Lee]

I can confirm that Ferguson's contract expires on the 30th June 2007.

Methinks Mr Murray hasn't got a calendar to hand. We are in January, not June.

Edited January 14, 2005 by Lee

[mattjansen]

Dont my head off for being a bit sad but in football manager, i know its a computer game, contracts work on this basis: For players over 23 when a contract is signed he has two years in which he is under the complete control of the club- they can decide whether to allow him to talk to other teams. After that period the player becomes "unprotected" and other clubs can make offers which only have to be varified by an independent board (transfer tribunal?) and cannot be turned down by the club.

Now, i have never seen the second case actually occour in real football but equally Eidos or whoever makes the game are utterly obsessed with accurate portrayal of this sort of thing. Could this be what Murray means?

Aint it the last six months of the contract that players are allowed to speak to other clubs at their on will, doesnt need to go through the players club. Like Gravesen now, i seem to recall that he discussed with Real first and then the clubs made up the fee.

Edited January 14, 2005 by mattjansen

[thenodrog]

Scott Parker has a broken foot.

It should be better by summer though.

I'd ship Fergy out if we could get him in no prob. Trouble is he will prob want to stay darn sarf.

[Claytons Left Boot]

Question for Mr Murray :-

"Mr Murray, 18 months ago you (yes, you) valued Barry Ferguson at £6.5M. Since then he has enhanced both his CV and his reputation by performing quite well at English Premier League level, and against some of the best midfielders in the world. A notch or ten above that of the SPL. Could you please outline your reasons as to why you now value him at £3.5M less?

[jim mk2]

I hope I am wrong but the signs are that Ferguson has played his last match for Rovers.

Alex McLeish, citing the example of Boumsong's move from Rangers to Newcastle and Savage's impending transfer to Ewood, today warned Rovers that the offer for Ferguson was final and that "player power" would secure his return to Glasgow by the end of the month.

McLeish said: “All the managers are in the same boat these days. If a player digs his heels in then it can become difficult because of undermining the squad morale.

“Also, you might not get the top performances out of the player that you would expect. Managers are definitely caught between a rock and a hard place these days in a situation like that.”

[mattjansen]

I hope I am wrong but the signs are that Ferguson has played his last match for Rovers.

Alex McLeish, citing the example of Boumsong's move from Rangers to Newcastle and Savage's impending transfer to Ewood, today warned Rovers that the offer for Ferguson was final and that "player power" would secure his return to Glasgow by the end of the month.

McLeish said: “All the managers are in the same boat these days. If a player digs his heels in then it can become difficult because of undermining the squad morale.

“Also, you might not get the top performances out of the player that you would expect. Managers are definitely caught between a rock and a hard place these days in a situation like that.”

Cant see why we would accept 400,000 on the table for a midfielder we have paid Rangers 6.5(well 3.9 if the 2.6 isnt paid yet), if we accept it then we paid Rangers 3.9 in a strange loan-fee for 18 months. Not just bad business but plain stupid.

And i also want to hear Ferguson say straight out that he wants to leave, otherwise i assume he wants to stay on.

[philipl]

I hope I am wrong but the signs are that Ferguson has played his last match for Rovers.

Alex McLeish, citing the example of Boumsong's move from Rangers to Newcastle and Savage's impending transfer to Ewood, today warned Rovers that the offer for Ferguson was final and that "player power" would secure his return to Glasgow by the end of the month.

McLeish said: “All the managers are in the same boat these days. If a player digs his heels in then it can become difficult because of undermining the squad morale.

“Also, you might not get the top performances out of the player that you would expect. Managers are definitely caught between a rock and a hard place these days in a situation like that.”

Well we do have one insider unofficial quote that he is happy at Rovers and it is obvious that Rangers are going to play a psychological game because they don't have the wherewithall to do anything else.

I am very happy with the examples given by McLeish- look at the prices extracted by the selling clubs!

Offering to hand on the £8m from the Boumsong sale might have a loosening affect at Ewood as well.

[broadsword]

Still nothing from Ferguson himself.

Silence may be golden, but it also speaks words. Something funny is definitely going on.

I'd prefer to let him rot in the reserves than take such a poor offer.

[jim mk2]

In the end though, as Rangers and Brum have discovered, you have to let an unhappy player go. And there is no doubt that Ferguson, or rather his wife, is not happy.

It will only take a small tweak in Rangers' offer for him to be on his way.

[blue phil]

I hope I am wrong but the signs are that Ferguson has played his last match for Rovers.

Alex McLeish, citing the example of Boumsong's move from Rangers to Newcastle and Savage's impending transfer to Ewood, today warned Rovers that the offer for Ferguson was final and that "player power" would secure his return to Glasgow by the end of the month.

McLeish said: “All the managers are in the same boat these days. If a player digs his heels in then it can become difficult because of undermining the squad morale.

“Also, you might not get the top performances out of the player that you would expect. Managers are definitely caught between a rock and a hard place these days in a situation like that.”

I hope you're right that he's played his last game for the club, Jim !

The way it stands now , Ferguson is damaged goods . I'd venture to say that most fans would be very unhappy to see him step out on to the pitch in the knowledge that he wants to go back to the micky mouse league. Who would part with money to cheer on such a person ?

With Savage seemingly on his way , Ferguson's contribution on the pitch is nowhere near as crucial as it was a week ago . He now most definitely isn't the difference between relegation and survival - if he ever was - and so , on the field , he is expendable .

I'm convinced Ferguson will be gone before the deadline . Anything Hughes and Williams says now in favour of him staying is merely a ploy to maximise his fee - similar to which the Brummies did with Savage (very , very effectively if I might say so ).

The best of all worlds would be if Everton or Newcastle were to show interest and drive the price upwards . Either way , if the Rovers want to retain credibility with the fans , then Ferguson must not play again.

[Ferguson16]

i've heard that rangers are going to use michael ball as a bit of bait for ferguson. he's out of favour because rangers don't want to pay everton 500k if he plays a few more games..;

[jim mk2]

Read this comment piece from one of tomorrow's Scottish broadsheets.

Not nice about Blackburn - or Burnley.

FERGUSON OWES IT TO HIS CAREER TO STAY IN ENGLAND

By Phil Gordon

NEW YORK boasts that it is so good they named it twice. That’s not even in the same league as Hamilton. The inspiration behind four other namesakes scattered across the globe is what is tugging at Barry Ferguson’s heart right now.

Not the Hamilton with the eyecatching beachfront in Bermuda, nor the stunning city nestled alongside the Waikato River in New Zealand. The one in Australia, then? Or what about the high-rise Hamilton in Ontario, a short drive from Toronto?

No, Ferguson yearns to be back in the original Hamilton, the Lanarkshire town he grew up and lived in until his transfer to Blackburn Rovers 17 months ago. The Scotland captain is homesick and would like a move back to Rangers. To borrow Frank Sinatra’s take on the whole business of uprooting, the little town blues are not melting away for Ferguson but that’s because he’s substituted it for a place that has an even smaller mentality.

Despite the makeover given to Blackburn Rovers by Jack Walker’s millions, there can be no disguising the geographical dislocation of the northern Lancashire town. A former colleague once told me that neighbouring Burnley was “God’s own country” but anyone who has ever been there will know that that man upstairs must have been ready to clock off after six days hard of creating the world, when he suddenly remembered he had to finish off places like Burnley and Blackburn.

Lanarkshire has them too. However, it also has the shopping and sights of Glasgow just 20 minutes down the motorway. That’s what made Hamilton such a perfect location for Giovanni van Bronckhorst when he set up home there after moving to Rangers from Feyenoord seven years ago. Henrik Larsson was another who could be spotted locally.

Both, though, have moved on. Ferguson needs to do the same. Leaving aside the theory that going back to the scene of your first great success is often a dangerous thing in football, the midfield player’s belief that returning to Rangers would offer greater satisfaction than remaining in one of the most appealing football environments in the world, is flawed. It’s not that long ago when Ferguson and van Bronckhorst were the glittering talents in a Rangers side that dominated Scottish football.

The Holland player also opted for the Barclays Premiership, yet even when Arsene Wenger’s ceaseless cast of stars and a dreadful knee injury seemed to conspire against him, van Bronckhorst re-invented himself on loan at Barcelona as a left-back and is now regarded as a cult hero in the Nou Camp after his goal in the win over Real Madrid.

Van Bronckhorst could be in the Champions League final in May. Ferguson being in Govan at the same time, would be a mockery of his undoubted ability. Ferguson was peerless in Rangers’ Treble success in 2003 — he provided the drive, the penetrating passes and even, unusually, the goals. His haul of 20 that term are in stark contrast to the two he has managed this season at Blackburn, but any player who was deprived of nine months, asFerguson was by a shattered knee, requires time to return to his true capabilities.

What Ferguson needs right now is to possess the broader horizon of van Bronckhorst, or Larsson. Scotland probably need it too. Ferguson is one of the few players operating at a high level that Walter Smith can call upon. He could go higher, but that is up to Ferguson. There is little doubt that his moderate Scotland performances have failed to match those at club level — yet Blackburn ought to be his stepping stone to a bigger stage, not somewhere to launch his idea of back to the future at Ibrox.

When Ferguson moved to Ewood Park, he cited a hunger to play against midfield players he admired, such as Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira. The ambition, though, should be to play alongside them. The Barry Ferguson who held aloft the Bank of Scotland Premierleague trophy and Tennent’s Scottish Cup as Rangers captain in May 2003 is capable of augmenting any top English club’s roster.

Going back to a Rangers, whose spending and footballing power has declined in his absence, is not a career move. If Ferguson wants any evidence, he only has to look at another of his erstwhile neighbours in Hamilton. Paul McStay was Celtic’s captain a decade ago when he realised he had probably paid the price of being too loyal to a club and not selfish enough about his career.

McStay, like Ferguson, had a young family when he approached his football crossroads. He preferred the quiet life in Hamilton, where he had gone to school. It took him only 15 minutes to get to training at Celtic Park and he was idolised by supporters who had watched him develop from a precocious teenager into someone who would earn 76 caps for his country.

In 1992, McStay was about to depart for the European Championship finals with Scotland. He had an offer to move to Udinese in Italy. Not the most glamorous of Serie A clubs, but a bit of a stepping stone, like Blackburn. McStay’s performances at Euro 92 underlined that he would easily attract bigger offers in the future but he came back from those championships in Sweden and made a U-turn on his decision to quit Celtic

.

Two years later, not even McStay’s remarkable loyalty to Celtic could guarantee immunity after he, as captain of an impoverished team, missed the penalty that condemned Celtic to defeat by Raith Rovers in the 1994 Scottish League Cup final. Had McStay chosen to go to Udinese, there is little doubt that he could have earned a bigger move, just as David Platt shrewdly did at the same time after just one campaign at Bari prompted Juventus to buy him.

Even if Ferguson has no notion of moving abroad, he is already in a country that would turn footballers all around the world green with envy. To turn your back on that and head back here would be folly. The Scotland captain tried to disturb his family’s uprooting as much as possible by delaying their move, making the 3 hour journey down the M6 from Lanarkshire to train at Blackburn before he found a new house.

Being a footballer’s wife is not all glamour, and certainly not in these circumstances. While the players are training and travelling much of the time, their partners are stuck in a house on their own in a place they cannot find any affection for.

Ferguson’s wife will miss the family support she had back in her native Hamilton. It is not easy to move away from your comfort zone. I can empathise, having spent a year each in London and Darlington. The latter was undoubtedly the harder. The little town blues were harder to conquer there.

Going back, though, is not always the best move either. Just ask Charlie Nicholas whose second spell at Celtic was a shadow of the one before his move to Arsenal. Or, more recently, Eoin Jess’s dismal return to Aberdeen.

Even the great Joe Baker had a humbling experience back at Hibernian after his success in Italy and England. The only person who made it work for him was John Robertson, whose return to Heart of Midlothian was not blunted by an short, unhappy sojourn at Newcastle United.

Ferguson owes it to his career to stick it out in the Premiership. Take Sinatra’s advice: if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

Edited January 14, 2005 by jim mk2

[teapreacher]

superb article.....thanks for posting it

[philipl]

That's the FOURTH such article to have come out of Scotland in the past 48 hours! Andy Gray was pretty to the point- if he stays at Rovers, Ferguson might become the replacement for Roy Keane; at Rangers he'll be forgotten.

Only McAllistair (whose wife has been extremely ill and quit Coventry's management because of it) has understandably come out in favour of domestic over career considerations.

There are still two huge differences between the Ferguson situation and the eventual Boumsong and Savage sales:

- our player maybe quiet but he is showing no hostility towards Rovers, in fact he was quoted yesterday as being happy here but would be happier if a move to Rangers came about because of the family. Boumsong and Savage became very antagonistic towards their employers.

- Rovers have not budged. "The player is not for sale". If Boumsong (who is Boumsong compared with the captain of Scotland?) could have a £10m sale price stuck on him, then Ferguson can also be worth £10m if Rovers decide that there could be circumstances under which they would sell and need to name a price? After all, the deal for Ferguson to come here could still be £7.5m if all contingencies occur (Rovers qualifying for Europe) and he is a much more experienced player now and closer to his peak- he is still 26 for another couple of weeks.

So we are at least six rounds away from Ferguson leaving by my reckoning (Newcastle had to go back four times before they eventually got Boumsong).

If the Premiership got a sniff of Ferguson being sold for £3m, I bet John Williams' telephone would get very busy indeed.

I doubt John Williams, who is so careful with his press utterances, would have sounded so confident ("music to our ears") when Rangers announced they weren't upping their bid yesterday if he wasn't very secure in his ground. In fact Rangers now have to loose a heck of a lot of face even to make another bid now.

I am beginning to think Barry will still be with us on his birthday (2nd February) but I am very confident that if he is not with us, he won't be at Rangers either.

Edited January 14, 2005 by philipl

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I can't imagine that Rovers can afford to let Barry go without a transfer request (removing the need for loyality bonuses and the like).

As I said in previous ramblings - I still think he will end up at Newcastle - a little closer to north of the border.

Hughes and JW are doing their best to keep Fergie's transfer value as high as possible - I hope it pays off.

One final note - in all this I think Fergie at least owes us a decent transfer fee for stickking by him during long term injury.

[blue phil]

A good article which sums up the general feeling I'd suggest .

Just one thing irks me , and that's the constant abuse of Blackburn the town ; surely someone with Ferguson's money only has to set foot in it once a fortnight , the rest of the time he and his wife can live in some of the most beautiful parts of England only a few miles away and never even think about the damned place .

Now Ferguson faces a dilemma . If he goes back to Scotland it will be as just another might-have-been . If he goes to another English club , then he can be rightly seen as a two faced so and so . And if he stays at Ewood , we'll always know that it's not where he wants to be .

He has to go , and he has to go by the end of January - or play for the reserves .

[jim mk2]

Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, commenting on Thomas Gravesen's departure to Real Madrid, said tonight: "No one at Everton wanted to lose Thomas Gravesen. We did everything we could to keep him. But once it became clear Thomas had set his heart on a move to Real we fought hard for the best possible deal.”

Which is what I believe Rovers are doing over Ferguson at this moment.