Ferguson and McGregor booted oot!

[Dodger]

right here's my 10p worth,

While I am disgusted at both guy's actions while playing for my country I am struggling to understand why the life ban....yes they were childish in doing what they did with the drinking and the gesture but why was it said to be done and dusted by both Smith and Burley on Thursday for it to then be opened back up again with such consequences??
I am sure there is more to this and I have heard a story of what really happened which would explain why the life ban happened but wether it is true remains to be seen....

While I am on my rant when the F##k did Smith become such a disciplinarian???
I seem to recall him being Gazza's boss when he gave his wife a right pasting but didny feel the need to punt him out the club,likewise when McCoist failed to return from a booze fuelled trip to Cheltneham,indeed he is now his number 2!!
Something stinks about it all and Rankers F.C. have seen it an easy way to punt 2 guys from the club whom command among the highest wages at Ipox and both of who would not budge in January when bids where accepted for them...money Rankers badly badly need.

 

[The_Squire]

It's about time some of these prima donnas have been given the boot, Cashley Cole next I hope.

None of them give a sh1t about the fans anymore and treat them with contempt.

 

[Sneds]

It seems as if everybody here is a model professional in their individual area. I'm not trying to defend them in the slightest, but it just seems weird how everybody is here on their high horse.

End of the day they're both human, they done wrong. It would be mad to suggest otherwise, however I still think the punishment is harsh.

Not sure if I have the story right, so please correct me if I am wrong, but I watched a press conference with Walter Smith and he said how they weren't the only players who stayed up drinking and yet, they were the only two players publicly dropped?

 

[madandra]

Whilst I don't condone what they did, I can imagine the outcry if one of your mates lost his livelihood for having a few drinks and acting immaturely.

CC, there is NO way these two have played their last games of professional football as some other club will come in and offer them a contract. I am not sure if Rangers CAN sack them as they have contracts and I am sure they would rather sell McGregor for £3m and Ferguson for £500,000.

I was at a trade show banquet last year where a senior sales manager for a power tools company made remarks to a waitress and he was bagged before the show started at 9am .the next morning.

They are both grown men who knew the cameras were on them.

 

[StuartD]

Well here goes.

Can’t understand the actions by burley before the game. Macgregor and Ferguson (and others) get battered on Sunday which was a day off. They could have went home and done this. Does Burley know that those who went home stayed off the drink? Also why did it take till Tuesday to send them home? Is this because he knew the papers were going to run the story the next day? Why even let them go drinking at 5am on Sunday morning and not check up on them. Ok, the players should know better but boys will be boys and all that. Any manager who lets the players loose ALWAYS gets his staff to keep tabs on hat is going on. When he has made his decision on sending them home, why does he allow them back and put them on the bench? Then we have the Burley and Smith saying its over and dealt with after the game only to ban the players two days later

It was on the bench the players really let themselves down, how pathetic did they look. I don’t believe it was aimed at the TA or Burley for a minute. For a start Burley is sitting along side them. Would other players i.e. Berra and Whitaker be laughing along with Macgregor (as shown on TV) if there actions were aimed at Burley or the TA? I think not. It seems more likely that it was aimed at the press, as it stinks that the paper involved so fit to hold onto the story to break it on the day of the Iceland game. Why not run the story on the Monday? Some players even hinted at this in some of their post match interviews. There are many instances in football of silly little hissy fits with the press. The players would have been better just not to co-operate with the journalists, they feel aggrieved at or do a story in another paper condemning them for trying to upset team morale.

For those who say he is glad they were booed are out of order, remember this was when the team was read out before all the pictures of the V signs were shown. It does the team no good at all. Why were the others who were on the lash not booed? I think the players may have chucked it anyway hearing this. Ferguson has always had to take more stick than most when playing for his country. Agreed he has not excelled but he has been no worse than Fletcher who seems to never get any flak. Think it has more to do with the club he plays for. I have now stopped going to games and did not renew my travel club membership this year. I took my niece to the Ukraine game, unfortunately I did not notice that she had Rangers jogging bottoms on and the abuse we got was shocking. We left twenty at half time. When I was young Celtic players used to take a lot of flack playing for Scotland, King Kenny was never really accepted till he went to Liverpool but now it’s the Rangers players turn for the flack.

Anyway back to the banning. Think it’s just convenient to be honest, Ferguson not looking the same player this season, Macgregor not really needed as Gordon is a better keeper. It looked possible Burley may have not picked the two anyway. Would have been interesting to see if Scott Brown would have been banned if it had been him? It looks like they could be on there way out of Rangers too. Given Rangers’ finances, and these two are probably there most saleable assets, it is just as convenient for them if not more so. Although the players went OTT with the Bevy session and were beyond stupid with there gestures I think the ban is too much


Must do some work now!!

 

[madandra]

... but boys will be boys and all that...

C'mon !!!!!!!! That is a pile of tosh. I am a 'boy' but I know if I get bladdered on a school night I will get done for DD the next day and would loose my job. What would the Judge say if I said 'boys will be boys'?. These are adults and Ferguson is a father they should know the score.
Do you think they would have done it when on Rangers duty ??? HELL NO because they would get Walters wrath and the wrath of the punters who chip in and pay their hugely inflated salaries.

If someone offered me £25k a week and told me that from July thru May I couldnt get ratted I would gladly sign the contract.


Stuart I feel the change of stick from Celtic players to Rangers players has also moved the paraniod complex with it... I remember it was Celtic fans having a go at the press and everyone else if things didnt go their way.

 

[StuartD]

... but boys will be boys and all that...

C'mon !!!!!!!! That is a pile of tosh. I am a 'boy' but I know if I get bladdered on a school night I will get done for DD the next day and would loose my job. What would the Judge say if I said 'boys will be boys'?. These are adults and Ferguson is a father they should know the score.
Do you think they would have done it when on Rangers duty ??? HELL NO because they would get Walters wrath and the wrath of the punters who chip in and pay their hugely inflated salaries.

If someone offered me £25k a week and told me that from July thru May I couldnt get ratted I would gladly sign the contract.


Stuart I feel the change of stick from Celtic players to Rangers players has also moved the paraniod complex with it... I remember it was Celtic fans having a go at the press and everyone else if things didnt go their way.

Ok maybe should have put “footballers will be footballers and all that!” I fully don’t expect you to get bladdered on a school night Andy as you have far too much common sense to do it. The players were in a situation where this would not happen but you give a footballer an inch and he will take a mile as far as I am concerned, they don’t have the common sense and brains to say enough is enough. Yes Ferguson is a 31 year old father but he is not the brightest. As soon as a footballer signs a professional contract they leave their brains at the door

No they would not have done this under Smith or even Mcleish (for Rangers AND Scotland) but that I think comes down to respect for the manager which we are lead to believe is lacking in this Scotland Squad.

Although I think the banning is harsh, the players did deserve to be punished as they were out of order. Not sure if the drink would still effect there performance on Wednesday, but Mondays training would be a write off for them

As for the Rangers paranoia complex. The press were quite entitled to run there story as these RANGERS players were out of order and I am embarrassed that a Rangers captain should act this way, but from a SCOTLAND point of view, I will say it again, why take until Wednesday to break a story they knew about on Monday? It was designed to have maximum disruption on the day of the game. It was to eveyrone involveds credit that they still got a result. I do have a paranoia about the press as I feel they have it in for the Scotland manager. Take for instance in the lead up to the Holland game, the continuous questioning about the goalkeeping position. I felt Burnley wanted to go with Gordon but the press were just waiting to through up the ”how do you expect me to play Kris Boyd when he is not getting a game for his club” comment made when the press were giving him flack for bring others on before Boyd against Norway that he ended up picking Macgregor as the easier option. If Burley really believed that Gordon had to be playing matches first, he would not have been in goal for the Iceland game.

We have had much speculation from the press and journalists on phone-ins after McCulloch quitting that he is the first of many etc. The press have taken a dislike to Burley straight away after the performance in Macedonia. Both Smith and Mcleish would have got a bit more slack from them if it was their first game. The press should cut Burley a bit of slack and allow him to get on with the job as he sees fit. Hopefully after the Iceland result this will happen

 

[Atticus_Finch]

In my opinion, Burley made the first error in thinking he was dealing with grown ups.
There's no doubt that the press have a lot to answer for in this whole charade, but that doesn't take anything away from the players stupidity.
If anyone saw Burleys press conference the day he was appointed, then they'll know that the press have had Burley in their sites since then. Their beloved Souness and McGhee were snubbed for some outsider who (Shock Horror) had the audacity not to play for either of the Old Firm. This is the real reason this situation is getting out of hand. Burley has no mates in the Scottish/West coast press and they can't wait to see the back of him, even if it is to the detriment of our qualifying chances.
As for the players themselves, they were just unfortunate/stupid enough that they were the ones that got caught. The only reason they weren't sent home that day was because there were more than just them involved and to we couldn't send half the squad home on the eve of a crucial qualifyer. Burley made the mistake of again thinking he was dealing with adults and benched them, hoping they would take the hit and be able to move on from it, but their primary seven antics on the bench sealed their fate.

No-one comes out of this smelling of roses (possibly Rangers), but at then end of the day, the majority of the blame must lie squarely at the feet of The Chuckle Brothers(TM).

Rant over.

As you were.

 

[dclarke]

I wholeheartedly agree with everyone's sentiments. The pair deserve their punishment (if not more) and I think it highlights how far behind football is in terms of professionalism compared to other sports.

 

[slugger]

I'm a member of the TA, go to all home games and a number of away games and was at the game last week when all this came about.

As far as we can tell, the two were booted out for their actions on the Wednesday night when they put their fingers up to the cameras of the Daily Record and Sky. They had been punished already for the drinking antics and that was a closed case. However, after they were punished by Rangers, more evidence has come to light, and that includes the verbal abusement of a member of the Scotland team coaching staff. The two were still drinking after 12 the next day, and it is now becoming apparant that the others had in fact retired to bed around 4 hours earlier.

The SFA are holding an inquest into everything that has gone on on Thursday, so i guess we'll know more after that.

What is clear though, is that the players have themselves to blame in all of this and no-one else. There are certain newspapers that are trying to force blame upon George Burley... this is utter nonsense. He allowed them to go for a drink - not an almighty all night/day session. The only mistake he has made in all of this is to trust 2 (or more?) professional footballers, one of whom was his captain. He punished them by dropping them to the bench and the players continued to act like small children... no, neds.

They have shown no respect for Burley or the Scotland fans, and i for one think that their punishment is justified.

What we really need though, is for the gutter press to stop stirring this into more than it is. There are so many roumors and lies going about that it's becoming ever more difficult to say what did and what didn't happen. There's also a certain radio station that hosts a well known football phone in, that seems to be doing its bit to try and stir things as much as they can. They are being almost as unprofessional as the two players in question.

Anyway, that's my thoughts of my chest!

 

[Dodger]

Rumours abound that Barry the crab was spewing his ring up in the pool and this was spotted by WS sister....again if this is true who knows but I for one wouldn't be suprised.The rumour of the 2 of them tellin Pressley to 'go away tae f##k who do you think you are telling us what to do what have you ever done with your career' if true says it all about this pair of Bawbags.

 

[Dodger]

In his defence it is said that the only reason McGregor was still up was that Barry kept passing his drinks sideways to Alan so it took Alan that long to finish them off......

 

[CliveW]

It's good to see Glasgow Rangers are standing by their decisions!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8002944.stm

How long will it take for the SFA to reverse their "Lifetime Ban" ?

 

[viscount17]

I don't know these characters but this Wishart guy seems a bit thick

"It's something we need to discuss with the SFA," he said. "I don't think anybody is particularly clear as to what the actual sanction from the SFA is.

this seems perfectly clear to me

The Scottish Football Association told them they would not be selected again after their breach of team discipline.

 

[EchtLoon]

Not sure if I have the story right, so please correct me if I am wrong, but I watched a press conference with Walter Smith and he said how they weren't the only players who stayed up drinking and yet, they were the only two players publicly dropped?

These are the only two Rangers players involved. Not much Smith can do about the others.

Also it isn't the drinking that got them in so much trouble, that had initially been dealt with, then the v-signs at the game on the Wednesday after they had been re-instated from their initial dropping for the drinking offence.