Songs of; praise; Natasha Woods finds an older and wiser Barry

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Apr 27, 2003 | by Natasha Woods

WHEN Henrik Larsson scored the goal that sent Celtic into the final of the Uefa Cup, Barry Ferguson felt a particular connection with the unassuming Swede. Celtic's top scorer is on the verge of achieving something remarkable. And he hasn't had to quit Scotland to do it.

"An unbelievable run. All credit to them," said the Rangers captain. "I've watched every game they've played and they have deserved to go through. I'd love to be in Celtic's position of being in a Uefa Cup final."

The admiration is genuine on the eve of the final Old Firm game of the season, but envy is also obvious. How the 25-year-old would love to emulate Larsson and Celtic.

Yet it is Ferguson, not Larsson, who has already had his hands on silverware this season and today he stands on the verge of two domestic honours. Victory against Celtic and the league title would be all but won.

Then tonight, amid black-ties and champagne, Scotland's professionals will hand out their player of the year awards. The contest between Larsson versus Ferguson will not be limited to the pitch at Ibrox.

A month ago Ferguson signed a five-year extension to his contract. The cynics suggested it was nothing more than an additional financial safeguard for the club. The critics said it showed Ferguson, playing the best football of his life, lacked the nerve to test himself at a higher level.

"People are always going to say I'm not ambitious," he acknowledged. "But I'm the same as anyone else. If you're happy in your job, you stay. And this is the happiest I've ever been. I have a young family and they are happy too."

Larsson, prolific marksman and very private man, has said much the same about his tenure in what many would see as the backwater of Scottish football. Except it doesn't seem such a backwater now.

"Now he is going to play in a Uefa Cup final isn't he?" said Ferguson, pointing out that European ambitions and Scottish football can go hand-in-hand even if a clutch of teammates, including Arthur Numan and Ronald de Boer, have gone into print suggesting their captain needs to play outwith Scotland to really establish his credentials.

It has been, regardless of the way the gongs are distributed tonight, a remarkable season for the midfielder. A nagging pelvic problem has dogged him all campaign. He barely trains because of it and today, like on countless other occasions, he will take a pain- killing injection before kick-off.

Yet he has already accumulated 18 goals to head the scoring charts at Ibrox and his pivotal role in Rangers' season has seen him play in every game bar two, an absence explained through suspension not injury.

Once today's game is over, the medics will decide whether he needs an operation to clear up his muscle problem or not. Ferguson just wants it over with.

"You can shut the injury off when you are on the pitch, but it is afterwards you feel it. And I'm starting to feel it affecting my fitness because you cannot go on not training and I'm doing virtually nothing at the moment.

"But I really cannot have another year like this. It has just got to the point where I want it sorted out because I am sick of having it and sick of talking about it."

This has been the year Ferguson has come of age. Captaincy becomes him and a year-and-a-half under Alex McLeish has helped him flourish.

"I'm a year older and wiser. And I did have to grow up a lot," he admitted. Gone are the misguided days when he would get caught up in a street brawl with Celtic supporters following a heavy Old Firm defeat. "Being captain of a big club in this country means you are in a goldfish bowl and you have to grow up."

"As a player, the gaffer has helped me a lot since he came in. He has added a wee bit to my game. He has encouraged me to go forward. I'm basically playing in the same position as I was under Dick Advocaat, but if the space is there in front of me the gaffer is always encouraging me to run into it," he said.

Ferguson has benefited from captaining a team unified under a new manager. But two league cup wins are not the mark of a team ready to challenge for Europe glory. And while the treble is there for the winning, it is still some way from achieved.

"We have only won one cup this season, we have not yet won the league or the Scottish Cup. We've come on as a team, but we still have a long way to go."

Ferguson only has to think back to October and his side's failure to progress beyond the Slovakians of Viktoria Zizkov in the first round of the Uefa Cup to put things in perspective. Rangers may lead Celtic by eight points, but Martin O'Neill's side are ahead where it matters most.

"The Zizkov game was a real disappointment because we should be beating teams like that," said Ferguson. "I think we have come on leaps and bounds since that game, but Europe is the big thing for us."

"Look at Celtic going to the Uefa Cup final. Hopefully we can do that one day with Rangers - to go that one stage further in the Champions League and get into that second group stage.

"You watch a game like Manchester United and Real Madrid and you see the best of the best. It would be great for us to be in there with them next year."