Latest news with #PhilippeClement
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Ferguson not ruling out return to management
Barry Ferguson would "never rule out going back into management" and says he has already had "a few offers" since his spell as Rangers' interim head coach came to an end this 47-year-old former Rangers and Scotland captain took charge after Philippe Clement was sacked in February but was replaced with Russell Martin after a US-based takeover of the Scottish Premiership club.A 40% win rate in his 15 games in charge - 24% worse than the Belgian - did not help his cause, but Ferguson "thought we done pretty well" after he and assistants Neil McCann and Billy Dodds led their side to the Europa League quarter-finals."I'd never rule out going back into management," Ferguson told Go Radio in his first interview since his spell in charge ended. "I've had a few offers from Scotland, down south and abroad, but I just felt they weren't right. I'll take a bit of time out and get back to doing what I was doing previously."Ferguson will return to his club ambassador role at Ibrox but feels that "overall, I can look myself in the mirror" after his stint in the managerial hotseat."It was kind of bumpy at times," he said. "I knew that was going to be the case. When I took over, the players were very low and had suffered some difficult results."So it was about me coming in and trying to lift them with the staff I brought in alongside me."Ferguson says he "loved every minute" of his time at the helm and was just "thankful for the opportunity" he thought would never come despite his previous spells managing Clyde, Kelty Hearts and Alloa Athletic."There were results at Ibrox, the ones that stick out - Motherwell and Hibs - they were really disappointing," he said. "We had some brilliant times and some difficult times. "I had a brilliant three months, but that's finished with. My life is back to being nice and quiet again, which I'm quite happy with."Ferguson admitted that picking McCann, Dodds and former goalkeeper Allan McGregor as his backroom team led to "some feisty moments".However, he added: "I could have picked a number of people, but I wanted to go with people who would really challenge me as a staff. I like getting challenged."Certainly the staff that I picked gave me a few challenges."
The National
2 days ago
- Sport
- The National
Barry Ferguson speaks out on Rangers exit for the first time
The club legend departed the Ibrox side at the end of last season following his three months in charge of his boyhood club. He had hoped to be the next permanent Rangers manager. However, the new American owners wanted to go down a new path, and so, Russell Martin was the chosen one to succeed Philippe Clement. "I wouldn't change a thing about it," he told Go Radio's Football Show: "I never thought it would ever happen and when you get that phone call, it's a case of 'when can I start?' "You've got to think of who is working beside you and who you want beside you and that had to happen very quickly. "I could have picked a number of people but I wanted to go with people who would really challenge me as a staff. I like getting challenged. "Certainly the staff that I picked gave me a few challenges. There were some feisty moments when we had to make some decisions. Read more: "I had two sore ones, at home to Motherwell and Hibs. The [[Motherwell]] game, we should have beaten them; the [[Hibs]] game we were nowhere near good enough. "But then I changed the personnel and shape and we got a victory in the next game. "That's part and parcel. Nothing is ever perfect and you're never going to win every single game, as much as you want to. But it's how you react when something goes against you that's the most important thing." He added: "I had a brilliant three months but that's finished with. "My life is back to being nice and quiet again, which I'm quite happy with. "I'd never rule out going back into management. I've had a few offers from Scotland, down south and abroad but I just felt they weren't right. I'll take a bit of time out and get back to doing what I was doing previously."
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Record
The redundant Rangers XI who must be sold to cut bulging squad down to size for Russell Martin
Seven new faces have come through the front door at Ibrox this summer but there is a need to ship some players out This time last year, Philippe Clement was left looking at a threadbare Rangers squad knowing he'd have to sell before he could buy. Fast forward 12 months and it seems the opposite is true for the man who replaced him. Russell Martin has been given licence to flash Gers' company credit card about like a Supermarket Sweep contestant, filling his trolley with as many new players as he can get his hands on. He's brought in seven new signings so far since and is still browsing the summer sale racks for more. Of course, with a crucial Champions League qualifier scheduled before most of the Ibrox faithful have unpacked their holiday flip-flops, there was simply no time for Martin and the club's new owners to hang about on the hunt for fresh talent. But it does beg the question - is signing up so many new faces without getting shot of the old ones storing up trouble? The squad list at Ibrox now extends to a hefty 33 first-team names, most of them sucking substantial wages out of the club coffers while only a few have ever contributed anything meaningful in return. As it stands, Rangers are in danger of operating a wage deficit that would leave Chancellor Rachel Reeves crying into her red box. The heaving dressing room at Ibrox is close to bursting point, a fact Martin acknowledged himself earlier this month. But cutting the numbers won't be straightforward if Andrew Cavenagh and his new American money men are intent on recouping anything close to the frivolous sums spent by the previous board on men who now firmly out of favour. Cavenagh and the 49ers have inherited a patch-work mess thrown together by a succession of bosses. After Giovanni van Bronckhorst's 2022 rebuild quickly collapsed, so too did the refurbishments carried out by Mick Beale and Clement. Now it's Russell and sporting director Kevin Thelwell's turn to try to construct something that lasts. They're certainly looking to put a uniform stamp on it, bringing in recruits exclusively from the English market with the athletic profile Martin insists is key to his dynamic vision for the team. To do that, he's spent a significant portion of the £20million kitty injected into the club last month. But there remains a strong likelihood that a big wad of those American dollars will have to be used to simply clear the decks. That's precisely the situation the club's former regime found itself in last year when they infamously sold off five players - including key men Connor Goldson and Todd Cantwell - for a measly £800,000 total. In truth, Rangers banked a lot more but were forced to hand most of the cash back to the players they were selling or else they'd never have got them to agree to give up their eye-watering Ibrox contracts. Speaking at last year's AGM, finance director James Taylor admitted the club were effectively still paying for past transfer mistakes. But it appears there are still some more costly instalments to be covered on that front if Gers are to clear out a squad of fringe men and flops that could fill an entire starting XI - most of whom have been bombed out of the squad submitted to Uefa for next week's Panathinaikos clash. ROBIN PROPPER has already made clear he won't be agreeing to a £1.5million move back to FC Twente until he's given a golden handshake, with his former Dutch employers unable to match his Ibrox terms. JOSE CIFUENTES has returned to Glasgow this summer looking to fight for his place. But while the Ecuadorian had a decent season on loan at Greek side Aris Thessaloniki, it looks like the ex-LAFC man's time in Scotland is up after he was among a clutch of players left behind when the team travelled to their training camp at St George's Park. And Record Sport understands he will also demand his contract is paid up if he's to move elsewhere. Paying off someone like RABBI MATONDO definitely won't be cheap. On an eye-watering salary rumoured to be north of £30,000 a week, the injury plagued Welsh winger might just turn out to be pound-for-pound one of the club's worst ever recruits. Signed for £3million by van Bronckhorst, he's registered just 26 starts and eight goals in three seasons. Currently out crocked again until next month, good luck finding anyone prepared to take on the final year of his contract. You would imagine youngsters like LEON KING and CLINTON NSIALA would be keen to find news clubs and get on with careers that have stalled at Ibrox - but then King knocked back a move to Wycombe last week. ROSS McCAUSLAND could definitely do with a fresh start elsewhere. The Northern Irish kid burst onto the scene at a time when Beale had emptied Gers stocks of wide options. But after a bright start his career has flatlined and he now appears to be well short of the standard required by Martin. The idea of KIERAN DOWELL, NEDIM BAJRAMI, OSCAR CORTES lining up in a blue jersey this season will likely send a cold shiver down the spines of fans too. But all three have been offered a clean slate by the new management, with both Dowell and Bajrami appearing keen to take it so far during pre-season. However, in the Albanian's case, if he can't force his way into a midfield already well stocked with Nico Raskin, Mohamed Diomande, Joe Rothwell and Thelo Aasgaard, it would be make financial sense to get him shifted and claw back some of the £3.5million he cost when arriving from Sassuolo last year. Cortes is likely to be given a chance to prove his worth given the new owners were obliged to shell out £4.5million to sign him permanently from Lens - despite the winger having spent most of his 18-month loan stint injured. But the Colombian has a lot to do to convince fans that the deal agreed by Clement and Nils Koppen last year was not another monumental waste of money. Shifting Dowell and BEN DAVIES might be a little easier given their contributions to Birmingham's League One title success while on loan at St Andrew's, but as things stand the Blues have yet to request the return of either. RIDVAN YILMAZ'S name is never far away from Turkish headlines suggesting a move back home. The former Besiktas full-back has shown flashes of form in his three years in Glasgow but never enough to dismiss the doubters. The clock is now ticking down to Tuesday's Champions League clash but another is beating rapidly towards the September 1 transfer deadline. It leaves Rangers with just 44 days to offload the unwanted or be left nursing a familiar case of buyer's regret.
The Herald Scotland
15-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Ex-Rangers coach lands job at Liverpool on Arne Slot's staff
Stewart spent two seasons coaching in the academy at Rangers before seven in the first team environment but left earlier his year when Philippe Clement was sacked. Interim boss Barry Ferguson brought in Allan McGregor to replace him. Russell Martin recently hired former Arsenal man Sal Bibbo as the new goalkeeping coach. Stewart joins former Ibrox boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Anfield after the Dutchman's appointment as a first team coach. Read more: A statement on the Liverpool website reads: "The Scot links up with Arne Slot's backroom team after nine years with Glasgow Rangers. "His first two years with Rangers were spent at the helm of the club's academy goalkeeping programme, before being promoted to the role of first-team goalkeeper coach, in which he served for the past seven years. "Stewart, a former professional goalkeeper himself, also worked with the Scottish FA for more than a decade as a goalkeeping coach educator, delivering relevant courses across the country. "Now, he will support Xavi Valero – back at Liverpool as head of first-team goalkeeper coaching – on a daily basis in working with the Reds' senior stoppers on and off the pitch. "Additionally, Stewart will oversee the loan strategies of goalkeepers who are in the process of making the step up from youth level to senior experience, serving as a link between the men's squad, loan management team and U21s group."
Extra.ie
09-07-2025
- Business
- Extra.ie
Fasten your seatbelts -- Ryanair's first flight took off 40 years ago today!
40-years-ago today, Ryanair took off from a tiny runway in Waterford…and the rest Is budget travel history Before the bright yellow scratch cards, the in-flight trumpet fanfare, and the occasional €9.99 fare that makes you book a spontaneous trip to Milan, Ryanair was a scrappy little airline with a single plane, a 15-seater Brazilian-made Bandeirante, and big dreams of shaking up the skies. It all began on a Monday morning, July 8, 1985 , when Ryanair's first ever flight took off from Waterford Airport, bound for London Gatwick. It wasn't exactly a jumbo jet, but the ambition was sky-high. 40-years-ago today, Ryanair took off from a tiny runway in Waterford…and the rest Is budget travel history Pic: Philippe Clement/Shutterstock Unsurprisingly, it seems people were eager for a new way to fly, with bookings in the first week soaring 40% above expectations. However, over the next several years, the airline's losses mounted before a genius business model saw them halving fares across the Irish Sea. Forty years later, that tiny hop across the pond has turned into a full-blown low-cost empire, carrying millions of passengers across Europe and beyond — with some occasional drama, plenty of headlines, and more than a few cabin bag controversies. Back in 1985, it was just a bold idea taking off from a small runway in the southeast of Ireland, with one TikTok user taking us on a walk down memory lane. User @ took to the platform on Wednesday to give his followers a glimpse into the airport that started it all. '40 years ago today, Ryanair took their first flight from this airport…this is where it all began,' he wrote, with many eager to see the airport functional once more. Unsurprisingly, it seems people were eager for a new way to fly, with bookings in the first week soaring 40% above expectations. Pic: Kaskip/Shutterstock Sean Power of Harvey Travel on Gladstone Street in Waterford spoke to WLRFM about the impact the major milestone had on the locality. 'It was unbelievable. Instead of having to travel to Dublin, when the roads were totally different from what they are now, people were absolutely delighted to see a service out of Waterford,' Mr Power said. 'People were also apprehensive about what type of aircraft it was and how long the flight would take. But when people heard there were lots of bookings, it drove even more people to book. 'We were able to make contact with people in the UK and talk to them about inbound traffic into Waterford, building a package of a flight into Waterford and a hotel in the surrounding area,' he added. Love them or hate them, you can't deny that Ryanair is the best airline for cheap flights — whether you can depend on their punctuality or other things is another argument.
