Barry Ferguson

[Brownie]

From the Independent

I don't think Barry will be affected by all of this," stated Burns after the national squad's training session, ahead of Scotland's opening group five encounter at Hampden Park. "He has matured so much recently, as he showed with that display against Spain."

Burns, who once played in Scotland's midfield himself, declared that Ferguson's performance in the 1-1 abandoned friendly in Valencia was "as good as I have seen him play." It justified the decision by Vogts and Burns to appoint Ferguson captain after the international retirement of Paul Lambert.

"You always want your captain to lead and he did that against Spain," said Burns. "Barry is as technically as good as any player around but there is another part to a midfielder's game, closing down and harry opponents, and he showed that in Valencia. Once you add that desire and attitude to technique, it takes you to another level.

"The challenge for Barry is that he now plays in the English Premiership againt people like Patrick Vieira, Steven Gerrard and Roy Keane. That has taken him up another level. He is having to prove himself all over again.

"He is still a young man and there is no doubt that he is going to become a top class international player. He has shown fantastic attitude, especially in coming back from that serious injury (a shattered knee) just after he joined Blackburn. He has grown as a person.

[philipl]

Sounds very encouraging but the article also says Ferguson plays with someone coveering the hole behind him. To the extent that Souness thought that Matteo would be the hole coverer, it certainly has not worked at Ewood.

My concern is whether we will find the right midfield partner for Ferguson before Souness is back to take him to Newcastle.

[Tony Diamond Inc]

THE best all round midfielder to grace the blue and white halves in my time (last 30 years)

[emerton]

Someone stated that we may lose barry to newcastle in january because of souness leaving, allthough this may have been a mindless rumour, i dont like what he has to say about newcastle.

F365 page

Barry Ferguson was shocked and disappointed when Graeme Souness quit Blackburn to take over at Newcastle.

But the Rovers midfielder insists he can fully understand his former manager's reasons for leaving Ewood Park.

The Blackburn skipper was in his hotel room at Scotland's World Cup base in Troon when he was given the shock news by club-mate Paul Dickov.

But Ferguson insists he feels no anger towards the man who brought him to the Barclays Premiership from Rangers last year.

He told the Scottish Sun: "I think his job was always safe at Blackburn and, in a way, you can't blame him.

"I'm shocked and gutted but I can't feel true anger inside of me.

"Truth is there are few bigger clubs in Britain than Newcastle - I think they are the biggest apart from Manchester United.

"They have a massive fan base and a great place to play. If you built a home for 150,000 fans there they'd still fill it.

"Every second person you see there has a Newcastle top on - even the grannies!

"It's a fantastic footballing place and the passion is just the same as he will have felt as manager of Rangers all those years ago. That's a major reason why he has gone in my eyes."

[SuperStella]

He has just upped sticks from Glasgow to Blackburn though? Surely he wouldnt want to move his wife and kids back up the road again?

[Eddie]

I'm not worried about losing Ferguson. He is a great player, but if Souness was to come back in for him, the sort of money we would be talking about, probably somewhere around the 10 million mark, if spent well, would help improve the team.

[stuwilky]

I'm not worried about losing Ferguson. He is a great player, but if Souness was to come back in for him, the sort of money we would be talking about, probably somewhere around the 10 million mark, if spent well, would help improve the team.

He isnt worth that - we payed 7.5 million and most people said we had overpaid for him then!

What has he done to increase his value by a third in 14 months? Sweet Bugger All!

[vyeo]

i'm a ferguson fan but if souness comes waving the woodgate cash (8-10m) at us for him, i'd take it. whoever the new man is must fancy bringing in some of his own players, and of course, if he fancies fergie as his main man, perhaps we'll hang on to him. if he doesnt, such a sale would allow him the chance to bring in some new blood.

that said, i have a sneaky feeling that some money will mysteriously appear anyway for the new man to spend in january here... hope i'm right!

[John]

Quite difficult for Ferguson to increase his value when he is not playing due to his injury.

He is slowly coming back into stride, few more games yet.

[blue phil]

Ferguson's worth at the present time would not be more than half of the (overpriced) amount we paid for him. He's a lot to prove before anyone will pay big money for him - unless it's Souness after a few bottles of red , or Tony Diamond on his dream team.....

[philipl]

The two or three games before Newcastle last year saw Ferguson emerging as a sensationally gifted midfielder for Rovers and it is fair to say he had the Newcastle game by the scruff of the neck until he got injured.

I believe there is a very decent chance he will be seen as a complete superstar over the coming weeks provided he keeps clear of injury and disciplinary problems.

We have got to get a Manager who is big and successful enough to keep him when the inevitable offers come in from Tyneside and wherever.

[super_neill]

Barry Ferguson is the only thing that i can praise Souness for, he is going to be up there with the best midfielders in the premiership one day if not now! He can control the midfield just as good as the likes of Viera and Keane and we will surely have interest come January.

[BRFC4EVA]

Barry Ferguson is the only thing that i can praise Souness for,

Goodness me what a muppet you are, you dont like promotions, cup wins and european qualifications then i take it.

[super_neill]

Barry Ferguson is the only thing that i can praise Souness for,

Goodness me what a muppet you are, you dont like promotions, cup wins and european qualifications then i take it.

Yes of course i like Promotions,Europeean qualification and Cup wins, but with Souness it wasn't exactly going to happen in the next few years was it? i mean lets be honest with Gresko at Centre midfield and Matteo on the left we are not going to set the World alight are we! so with a new manager hopefully we will get our tactics right and push for european qualification.

[laughatthedingles]

This might upset a few people but he has a lot to prove yet to me, he was poor at the beginning of his career and had just put together 3/4 good games, the highlight being Birmingham away (i was there and he was magnificant) however he has not done it long enough yet and his form has not been that good so far, yes I know he's recovering from a bad injury but I am just stating the facts.

It is not so much that he has played poorly in his time here, more that he has disappointed me with the type of player he is, once Souness said he could be our Roy Keane or Vieira I thought although not in that class yet he would be in a similar mould, however all he has shown so far and in his international matches that I have seen him in, is that he is neat and tidy, rarely gives posession away but is not an all action midfielder.

Unless he can become the player he promised to become in those four games, then I would not be too disappointed should we recieve our money back from newcastle and find an adequate replacement, in my eyes so far, Butt for £2.5 and Murphey for £3?? would have given us a far better midfield with money left over, just a thought.

[rover6]

Just dredged this thread up to make the point that our current problems stem from central midfield.

We just don't have a dynamic pairing who are capable of dominating a game.

The big question that Hughes has the answer quickly is who is going to partner Ferguson - assuming that Ferguson is indispensible (he better improve on his Charlton performance in that case).

Flitcroft, Thompson, Tugay, Douglas, Donnelly are the contenders, we need to find one who will work with Fergie. Imo Flitcroft just hasn't got the stamina any more and the same applies to Tugay.

[John]

Could really do with a fit Thompson, missed him for a long time now.

If Thompson is not available, which seems to be the case these days we do have to find a solution.

Our best two in that position are Tugay and Ferguson. However can they work as a partnership? Might have to let Ferguson play deeper and Tugay can have license to move forward as he did well at the latter end of last season- we could try this at home maybe.

If going for more industry, I always thought Douglas could be a ball winner in the centre last season. However peoples views on here seem to suggest he is playing awful at the moment. Have not seen him play this season so cant comment.

[krislu]

Judgeing from the Charlton game, Ferguson was poor but so was the majority of our team. I really hope that Hughes ain't planning on using him as a very deep midfielder who does nothing but pass the ball around to the players closest to him.

IMO Ferguson has the qualities to become a very good box to box midfielder, and it's a real waste of talent to use him as a midfield ancor man who never link up in attack.

[joey_big_nose]

Been barking up this tree for effing ages. We quite plainly need a decent all round player to slot in next to Ferguson.

Carrick, Davis, Parker, Cahill- anybody of any quality. I know they do not grow on trees but it is important to find someone to allow Ferguson to express himself and add bite to the midfield.

Interesting fact: Parker has played 8 minutes in all competions this year..... Loan fodder?

[Ossyrob]

Barry Ferguson is the only thing that i can praise Souness for, he is going to be up there with the best midfielders in the premiership one day if not now! He can control the midfield just as good as the likes of Viera and Keane and we will surely have interest come January.

If we get a decent offer I think Rovers will accept it ,just to free up money for Hughes to buya few of his own players.But I dont hink we will get back what we paid .

[USABlue]

What's going on with thommo exactly. What was his latest injury and why so long out.

[herbergeehh]

Ankle injury, suffered against United.

Read somewhere that Edu might want a move away from Arsenal, would've been a great signing for Rovers. Creative player with a great left foot... but he's probably out of our reach, I'm sure there's a lot of clubs after him, and he'll probably cost more than we can afford!

[Alex Rover]

Ankle injury, suffered against United.

Read somewhere that Edu might want a move away from Arsenal, would've been a great signing for Rovers. Creative player with a great left foot... but he's probably out of our reach, I'm sure there's a lot of clubs after him, and he'll probably cost more than we can afford!

Yep, you're right on both points

[USABlue]

On the subject of Ferguson, anybody here think he will be off to join Souness in January. I do. My crystal ball says Fergie to the Geordies with Bellamy and cash coming this way. You heard it here first.

[jim mk2]

On the subject of Ferguson, anybody here think he will be off to join Souness in January. I do. My crystal ball says Fergie to the Geordies with Bellamy and cash coming this way. You heard it here first.

Is that an exclusive? I'll telephone my contacts on the nationals now.

How big do you want your byline: 30pt or 42pt?