Ferguson Hands in Transfer Request

[Nayef]

Hughes on the Ferguson Transfer:

http://www.teamtalk.com/teamtalk/News/Stor..._284369,00.html

that picture scared me -sparky looks like that murdering stupid madman!

[Eddie]

AESF did you not ever consider that we knew we were between a rock and a hard place, and knowing that this was a question of getting as much as we could for him, made it known that we wanted quite a bit, and as a result of this were able to get more than we would of had we publicly valued him at 5 million? I know Rovers fans always look at the glass as half empty, but before jumping on the boards backs, have you ever even taken a moment to think of that? It seems like common business sense. You always start higher than you expect, the bidder negotiates you down, but you are still happy with the final outcome.

Go to any European market or antique market, and you'd see such things occur everyday. You don't turn around to the dealer and say:

"what a puff look, you started at 10 pounds and I got you down to 8"

"but sir I really would have been happy only getting 7"

Edited February 1, 2005 by Eddie

[AndyR]

I think you have to repect that John Williams had his hand tied by this but £4.5 rising to £5m isn't that bad. If Barry made it clear he would be unhappy and not giving his all then we have saved over £1/2m in wages until the end of the season (16 weeks at £35k).

There was no real room to negotiate once the spineless one had decided that it was Rangers and only Rangers that he wanted to go.

I would be far more excited being a Celt and signing Bellamy than Ferguson, in fact I might even be more upset swapping Barry for Arteta.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

How the hell did this little shyte ever become captain of our famous old club?

...Bob Crompton must be turning in his grave!

His heart was never in it from day one.....good riddance to bad rubbish.

http://www.football365.com/news/scottish_n...ry_142182.shtml

Edited February 1, 2005 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[adam]

Maybe John Williams did not have much choice as Ferguson refused to play! Maybe he did not "let the fans down" in fact over Savage and this he seems to have handled things as well as possible and he has not involved the media.

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/lancashi...rt/ROVERS1.html

Edited February 1, 2005 by adam

[RovertheHill]

Despite playing at some of England’s finest stadiums, Ferguson said no match could compare to Scotland’s Old Firm derby with Celtic.

“No disrespect to Blackburn but the local derby was Bolton and it is not the same. Even going to Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, they are beautiful stadiums but a normal Premier League game isn’t the same."

What a pathetic excuse for being spineless and having no ambition. Of course the old firm derbies are special, but they are 4 games out of a season. The remaining 32 are not even near Division 1 level. Sick to death of him now

[Tris]

Personally I'm convinced that Ferguson is going nowhere.

He is going Tris - firstly because he's a greedy disloyal git who put in a transfer request the month after saying that he wanted to stay. Secondly because Mr Williams capitulated on the £6m fee and didn't stick to his original guns.

Ferguson refusing to play against Colchester changed the whole situation for Williams (and Hughes) ... it left them three days to try and get the maximum cash from Rangers.

Given the way Viola and Ferguson have handled this whole affair, one assumes that Rangers would have been made aware that Ferguson had pulled the ultimate stunt to force his return to Glasgow.

Once Ferguson went to that length to get his move, he devalued himself ... ... in more ways than one.

[joey_big_nose]

Personally I'm convinced that Ferguson is going nowhere.

He is going Tris - firstly because he's a greedy disloyal git who put in a transfer request the month after saying that he wanted to stay. Secondly because Mr Williams capitulated on the £6m fee and didn't stick to his original guns.

Ferguson refusing to play against Colchester changed the whole situation for Williams (and Hughes) ... it left them three days to try and get the maximum cash from Rangers.

Given the way Viola and Ferguson have handled this whole affair, one assumes that Rangers would have been made aware that Ferguson had pulled the ultimate stunt to force his return to Glasgow.

Once Ferguson went to that length to get his move, he devalued himself ... ... in more ways than one.

Thats absolutely disgraceful behaviour by Ferguson, completely unprofessional. We can only hope one day he finds out what it is like to be actively screwed over. If the tables were turned it would be like a club forcing out an injured player, or denying him treatment- something I cannot see JW or BRFC ever doing. Why? Because they have some decency.

Wanting a move is fair enough and understandable- but forcing the hand of the club in that way is fraud. We paid for his talent and participation and he denied them to us.

I know we would never do it, but technically you could sue for that kind of behaviour.

[des]

once again what more could JW do ?

If he would not play in the FA cup then he had to go and we got the best price we could as for his family being home sick it seems that he was and that was about it.

It is time for players to go up, my firm has just lost a contract and as such I either move with the new firm who has win it or change jobs. No say so no empowerment and yet players who earn more in a month them I will in my life time, cannot hack being away from home. get real.

As for fans not going to all the games, can you blame them what with the cost of going and players like barry, who rip off the club, who said sorry to the rangers fans who leavening when he did, but did not not have the grace to say sorry either to Blackburn Rovers or to the fans well

Bye BYe and do not darken our door again

[RangerRover]

Some observations:

A bad day for Blackburn Rovers on and off the field.

First and foremost, we have lost a key player in the fight against relegation. There is now a gaping hole in midfield that neither Savage nor Flitcroft are capable of filling.

Like the loss of Dunn, Duff and Cole, the departure of another leading player also sends a further bad message to the Blackburn public .... and the board wonders why crowd numbers are dwindling.

With regards to the transfer itself, Williams has been made to look the fool he is (again) by Murray.

His "tough" negotiating stance was shown to be nothing more than bluster and he has been given the runaround by Murray both in the buying and selling of Ferguson at a cost to Rovers of £2 million.

An amateur versus the professional.

In addition, the outcome of this saga was obvious from the start, although not to philipl and his cohorts.

An amateur versus the professional messageboard members.

Spot on. You've also enhanced your "never wrong" reputation by successfully predicting against many doubters that Ferguson would return to his old club. Mystic Jim - I salute you.

Bobby G -

Murray Forced Williams hand - I don't think so.

read the opening quote.

Thenodrog

Would Gers want him back if he was some sort of Johnny Foreigner or are the supporters of the club under some sort of delusion that he is one of the all time greats like Baxter, Souness etc ?

Depends on the player. For example, we probably could afford Tugay yet don't give him a second thought even though he's not playing regularly for Rovers and might jump at the opportunity of being a first choice pick every week. Amoruso is another one. Many supporters loved the big man's commitment but once again, we are not interested. Barry Ferguson is different. Fans feel he should never have gone and see him as the playmaker we need if we want to secure our second title in three seasons. He's special for us but nowhere near the class of legends you mentioned. Must be a Rangers thing..

Is he gonna wear that daft dead cat on his heeed again

That's the nearest thing we've got to a Player of The Year trophy - so don't knock it !

Joey :

Ferguson is a good player but there is no doubt he's moving backwards not forwards - going back to the SPL. No matter how you dress it up, in football terms it is North of the border that is the backwater. Rangers and Celtic, in terms of playing staff only posess the resources of a mid to lower table premier side - apart from Larsson and Millar what SPL players have gone on to play for top clubs in the last two years ?

You raise some decent points. However, had Barry signed for Sunderland it would have been seen as a backward step. Yet what if they achieve promotion and then consolidate their Premiership status for a few years and reap the benefits that continuos top flight football and a massive fan base generally bring, would it still be seen as a step back ?

I agree there's more of a possibility that Sunderland will go up than the Old Firm being invited to into the Premiership but if that happened then we would no longer be paupers in a poor league. Rangers (and Celtic) have the fan base to sell their allocation of tickets for any away match down South without one supporter up here having to cross the border. That's the real benefit of a Nation with only two main clubs - the fan base throughout Britain and indeed the World is massive. We could attract the top players if we were on a level playing field and who wouldn't want to play to home crowds of 50,000 plus. Would Gattuso, Boumsong, Van Bronckhorst etc leave to join teams in superior leagues at such a rate if they were receiving the same sort of cash at Ibrox - I think not ? I go along with the suggestion that we are not one of the biggest clubs at the moment but the potential is there should we ever be invited down South. If that happens then you'll have a better understanding about the size of the club. That's why I think Barry is at home competing with our main rivals for Championships and cups and an opportunity of adding to his medal collection as well as playing regular European football - because he believes that's what players of big teams do.

Down Under Rover

Cup games against East Fife for him then ...... my Grandfather could play good in a game like that. And he is dead.

There's an idea. With Der Goalie injured, we could stand Gramps on the goal line when we play Dundee United in the League Cup Semi Final tomorrow night. I suspect he could be reluctant to come out for cross balls but then it's the same with Klos.

StreakyB -

Just face facts - you desperately needed him back as your midfield did not have the required quality and you were worried that Celtic would be pulling away from you.

We've beaten our rivals twice at home this season in league and cup and managed without Ferguson. We closed an eight point gap without him and still have to play Celtic home and away. We could easily have drawn the first league match at Parkhead but lost to a Thompson wonder goal. We've been trailing by three points for some weeks now but we are hanging in there. Signing Ferguson will help our cause but we were doing well without him considering our finances and player exodus from Ibrox in the last eighteen months. Put it this way, had Ferguson and Bellamy not put pen to paper, I would still have fancied us to win the title. There ye go.

So many points to address, so little time...

[jim mk2]

I find Ferguson's refusal to play against Colchester astounding.

Can Ferguson refuse to play from a legal point of view ?

When he refused to play, was he not breaking the terms of his contract and why did not Rovers suspend him without pay, remind him of his responsibilities to his employers, send him home and tell him to return to the club only when he is ready to play again ?

IMO the club missed a golden opportunity to teach Ferguson and other selfish players like him a lesson.

[Eddie]

You just posted exactly the same thing on two different topics. I know you are old and all, but senility is really starting to set in.

[benhben]

Mabye Tugay can now be used as a more attacking player alongside savage. He has more creativity than Thompson, who is still to convince he can hack the premiership. Also how does this transfer work? It says we have a guaranteed £4.5m with that rising to £5m. But are the Debts we owe cancelled now? Meanin it is in essence a £6mish transfer? Or will we still have to pay rangers? If not at least we seem to have broken even.

[Eddie]

I presume that 4.5 million included what we owed to Rangers, we didn't exactly break even, but it isn't terrible, it was worth it for all the glory bazza brought to rovers...oh wait...

[Bobby G]

Rangers and Celtic would do no better than 8-10 in the Premier League in their current state.

So good on Fergie.Enjoy it up there.Good luck.

Thanks for your words of appreciation for the club and fans that supported you.

[den]

Rangers and Celtic would do no better than 8-10 in the Premier League in their current state.

So good on Fergie.Enjoy it up there.Good luck.

Thanks for your words of appreciation for the club and fans that supported you.

and went quite some way to paying you.

[JonnyH]

The guy is a soft, gutless loser in my opinon, who couldn't cut it in the big league. Good riddance!

And that's all I have to say on that. (quote Forest Gump)

[joey_big_nose]

Joey :

Ferguson is a good player but there is no doubt he's moving backwards not forwards - going back to the SPL. No matter how you dress it up, in football terms it is North of the border that is the backwater. Rangers and Celtic, in terms of playing staff only posess the resources of a mid to lower table premier side - apart from Larsson and Millar what SPL players have gone on to play for top clubs in the last two years ?

You raise some decent points. However, had Barry signed for Sunderland it would have been seen as a backward step. Yet what if they achieve promotion and then consolidate their Premiership status for a few years and reap the benefits that continuos top flight football and a massive fan base generally bring, would it still be seen as a step back ?

I agree there's more of a possibility that Sunderland will go up than the Old Firm being invited to into the Premiership but if that happened then we would no longer be paupers in a poor league. Rangers (and Celtic) have the fan base to sell their allocation of tickets for any away match down South without one supporter up here having to cross the border. That's the real benefit of a Nation with only two main clubs - the fan base throughout Britain and indeed the World is massive. We could attract the top players if we were on a level playing field and who wouldn't want to play to home crowds of 50,000 plus. Would Gattuso, Boumsong, Van Bronckhorst etc leave to join teams in superior leagues at such a rate if they were receiving the same sort of cash at Ibrox - I think not ? I go along with the suggestion that we are not one of the biggest clubs at the moment but the potential is there should we ever be invited down South. If that happens then you'll have a better understanding about the size of the club. That's why I think Barry is at home competing with our main rivals for Championships and cups and an opportunity of adding to his medal collection as well as playing regular European football - because he believes that's what players of big teams do.

Well you did try to dress it up but the fact remains that Rangers and Celtic will never be invited into the Premiership.

Reasons:

a) Tukeys do not vote for Christmas- 18 of the 20 clubs need to approve changes to the rules of membership. As around 10 of the twenty clubs have relegation fears each season they would never ever vote to expand relegation to 5 places to sate the Glasweigen thirst for cash.

Collapse of the Home Nation system- If the main Scottish clubs joined the one of the principle reasons the home nations have seperate teams would collapse. It is a point that three Welsh teams operate in the English league and we might be able to hold on to it using conservative ("why, it has always been this way") arguments but the FAs, FAWs, SFAs and NIFAs positions would all be severely weakened.

c)If the Turkeys wont vote get the chicks- The other membership option would be to get Two of the three places available for Championship teams given to Rangers and Celtic. Will not happen as the Championship would sue the Premiership- ugly.

d)FIFA/UEFA would go beserk- FIFA have a very strict attitude about national leagues. You play within your boundries. There are exceptions- Wrexham, Cardiff and Swansea as said before and Monaco in France- but the old firm would e a move of unprecedented size. FIFA and UEFA would see it as a challenge to their autority and quite rightly view it as a problem that could snowball. The big Vienna teams would want to play in Germany, the Portugese in Spain, the Danes and Belgians in Holland, and even the Greeks in Italy? It would be mayhem.

Never ever going to happen. The only hope for the old firm is a european super league sanctioned by UEFA which does not look close TBH or try and join the Conference to avoid problems A and C. The only thing is that B and D are stilll very real.

So Barry moving back is going backwards- massive support- OK. But realistically he will always play n a team miles away in terms of talent from Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich etc.

Your squad is little better overall than ours, your league is stagnant (Championships and cups in Scotland are not worth much, are they. It is given that you do not even need to be a very good player, in the greater scheme of things, to win one) and the players you produce (Ferguson, Dickov, McFadden and a few others aside) are awful. Dont you sometimes wish you were not so massive? That there might be a bit of competition?

[Neil Weaver]

Can Ferguson refuse to play from a legal point of view ?

When he refused to play, was he not breaking the terms of his contract and why did not Rovers suspend him without pay, remind him of his responsibilities to his employers, send him home and tell him to return to the club only when he is ready to play again ?

IMO the club missed a golden opportunity to teach Ferguson and other selfish players like him a lesson.

Bit like Andy Todd last year then?

Here's a view from the money front (though I'm no expert on these things). So we ended up with £4.5m, rising to £5m with appearances. And we still owed about £2.5m to Rangers from the original deal, and that was due to be paid in August? So, let's say he wasn't sold yesterday. Assuming no loss or gain in value between now and summer, he'd have been due about 500k in wages - maybe more, maybe less, but I'd guess at around 30k per week that's not a million miles away. And Rangers would have come a calling in the summer.

Now, here's something to ponder. Would they have paid the same as now at the end of May or waited till August and paid £2.5m less? Hmmm, let me think.

So we could easily have ended up getting a net £0.5m if we'd have had a summer deal as opposed to £2m now. And that's not taking wages into account : about £0.5m till summer. Bearing those in mind, bugger all in summer vs £2m now. What would you do?

[Eddie]

Difference is, at least Todd refused to play because he felt he deserved more, in a strange way it almost shows his feelings for the club. Whereas Ferguson refused to play because he simply wanted out.

[Scotty]

Ferguson refusing to play against Colchester changed the whole situation for Williams (and Hughes) ... it left them three days to try and get the maximum cash from Rangers.

Given the way Viola and Ferguson have handled this whole affair, one assumes that Rangers would have been made aware that Ferguson had pulled the ultimate stunt to force his return to Glasgow.

Once Ferguson went to that length to get his move, he devalued himself ... ... in more ways than one.

He did that the second he handed in a transfer request. The rest was just inevitable.

It's gone very quiet from those who wanted Ferguson to stay hasn't it?

[Manchester Blue]

Some people have lives!

[USABlue]

I have only just learned that Fergupussy refused to play. What a complete moron. He has no idea what he has done he will always be seen as the little tosspot who could not hack it in the Big Leagues.

Enjoy your handful of competitive games in Scotland you wimp.

[blue phil]

Well you did try to dress it up but the fact remains that Rangers and Celtic will never be invited into the Premiership.

Good post , Joey , but I would never use the word never .....Who knows what tricks might be pulled by the paymasters Sky in the future should they decide that the Premier League needs spicing up . Couple that with the increased money making potential of the big English clubs and you never know .....

Not likely in the next decade though .

[BRFC4EVA]

Nice to see that Bazza did his work on the history of the football club when talking about Rovers. From teamtalk.com, when talking about missing the celtic game,

'No disrespect to Blackburn but the local derby was Bolton. It's not the same, nothing is the same.'

Um no Bazza, that would be the average game which no 1 cares about. The real derby is Burnley and had you stayed you would have expericed the only derby in England which gets clos to the old Firm game.