Cyriel Dessers believes Barry Ferguson and his Rangers old boys network can light the blue touch paper at Ibrox.
Appointed interim manager after Philippe Clement’s dismissal, the former skipper had a remarkable start as caretaker when his players fought back from two goals down to beat Kilmarnock 4-2 at Rugby Park on Wednesday.
Upon being asked to take charge, Ferguson assembled a backroom team consisting of Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Allan McGregor, with the four joined by Issame Charai, who had recently arrived to assist Clement.
Seemingly heading for disaster in Ayrshire when Brad Lyons added to Joe Wright’s opener, Rangers showed the spirit they had been lacking in recent weeks to turn the game on its head.
And Dessers, who scored a double in between goals from Vaclav Cerny and Nedim Bajrami, says it bodes well for the rest of the season that the new faces in charge have huge first-hand experience of the demands of playing for Rangers.
‘I’ve seen him (Ferguson) in the Hall of Fame, obviously,’ said the striker. ‘I know what he did for the club – five league titles, five Scottish Cups, all these things, so that speaks for itself.
Barry Ferguson shows his frustration after his side went 2-0 down on Wednesday night
Cyriel Dessers helped inspire Rangers’ comeback, scoring twice against Kilmarnock
Ferguson was a relieved man at full-time and took the acclaim of the travelling support
‘He’s a big name at this club, a big personality and it’s good that he’s around now.
‘He knows the club through and through, he knows what the fans want, what the club is all about and he’s just trying to bring that to us.
‘Obviously some (of the current players) have been around for a long time, they know this as well, but I think it’s good to hear it from him (Ferguson) as well.
‘He’s a Rangers legend. In all the staff, I think we have some players who have been very important for Rangers.
‘They know the club, they know the little things, they know how the fans feel. That’s also what they try to bring to the group, that’s what we try to take from them, learn from that and try to take it and convert it on to the pitch.’
Rangers’ dreadful record on the road – just five wins in 13 games – was one of the main reasons Clement was sacked last weekend.
While Dessers admits that the start the side made on Wednesday was again poor, he feels the second-half display demonstrated what they are capable of.
‘It has been very weird days,’ he reflected. ‘So, maybe that’s something that was still in the legs in the first 20 minutes, but that’s not an excuse.
‘We have to be better, we have to start better, but I’m glad we showed the reaction. That’s a huge thing for us and that should give us confidence for the next weeks.
‘It’s just about consistency. If you can do it here in a tough place, then you can do it on every pitch in Scotland and that’s just what we have to show.’
Time was called on Clement’s 17-month tenure after the humiliation of losing to Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup was compounded by another home defeat, to St Mirren in the Premiership.
Dessers insists the players were pained to see Clement pay the price for failure but then had to quickly get their business heads back on for the trip to Rugby Park.
‘It’s always tough because people talk a lot about the football, but we also see the human side and that’s really tough and emotional for everybody in the building,’ he said.
‘But then 48 hours later you have an important game and you have to get your head back in it and find your feet.’
