Ferguson credits Smith for Rangers rise

With Rangers FC going well in the Scottish Premier League and off to an excellent start in Group E of the UEFA Champions League, captain Barry Ferguson has much to be happy about. The 29-year-old told uefa.com about the upturn in fortunes under manager Walter Smith and the rising expectations at Ibrox.

uefa.com: How important was it to get off to a winning start against VfB Stuttgart?

Barry Ferguson: To get off to a winning start in your first group game is obviously important and we managed to do that. We knew it was going to be difficult. Stuttgart are a very good team having won the Bundesliga last year which tells you enough about them, so we were absolutely delighted to get the three points and especially to come back from being a goal down to win 2-1.

uefa.com: Even though you did not know Rangers had fallen behind?

Ferguson: Yeah, I was getting stitches in a head knock at the time and I didn't realise until I came back out and looked up at the scoreboard to see they were 1-0 up.

uefa.com: Olympique Lyonnais are next up on Tuesday. Do you take any confidence from the sluggish start they've had to the season, especially having lost some key players such as Florent Malouda and Eric Abidal?

Ferguson: It doesn't make it any easier. They've won the French title for the last six seasons and while some important players have left I'm sure the ones that have come in are just as good probably. Fabio Grosso won the [FIFA] World Cup with Italy for example, so they still have a lot of quality in their squad and we expect a tough game.

uefa.com: Is there an extra edge to that game because of the Paul Le Guen connection and the way things ended for him here at Rangers?

Ferguson: No, I'm not bitter. I don't hold any grudges. I'm just sad the way it worked out in the end being stripped of the captaincy. It's something that's always meant the world to me, something you dream about as a young boy going along to the matches with my father to watch my brother [Derek] play for Rangers. Not many boys fulfil that dream. I've been lucky enough to do that and it was a shock to have the captaincy taken away from me, but it's in the past now.

uefa.com: What qualities has Walter Smith brought to the team that were maybe lacking last season?

Ferguson: I think he's brought confidence and happiness back to the squad. He's an experienced manager who's been there and done it. He's brought in two coaches [Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowell] who were hungry for success and they've just given the whole place a lift. As you can see it's a happy place to be and before that wasn't the case.

This is an abridged version of a story that appears in this week's editon of the uefa.com Magazine. To read it in full, click here.