‘He would have learned so much from Walter Smith and Dick Advocaat’: The inside story of Barry Ferguson, as viewed from across the great Old Firm divide

The view from across the great divide can be illuminating. Peter Grant is the epitome of the character who played for the jersey at Celtic. Barry Ferguson holds the same status in a blue strip.

The former Celtic midfielder and the interim Rangers manager share much else. Grant coached Ferguson to a win in a Wembley final, debated football on the same radio station and both have now experienced coaching roles at the clubs they love. There is insight as well as respect when Grant talks of Ferguson.

‘He was the playmaker when I coached at Birmingham when Alex (McLeish) was the manager,’ says Grant, 59. ‘Everything went through him but, ironically, he gave one of his most impressive performances when he didn’t have much of the ball.’

Grant is referring to the League Cup final of 2011 when Birmingham faced Arsenal, coached by Arsene Wenger and containing players such as Gael Clichy, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Samir Nasri, Andrei Arshavin and Robin van Persie. The Blues won 2-1.

‘Barry was central to the plan we drew up,’ says Grant. ‘Everything normally went through Barry in our team and every side knew that. But we felt that Arsenal would exploit that, because their midfield was adept at sitting in front of their markers and picking passes off. 

‘We decided to use our possession in another way and bypass Barry. He would make the angles and look for the ball, dragging his markers out of position, but we would pass to other players.

Former manager Dick Advocaat appointed Ferguson as Rangers captain at the age just 22

Peter Grant (centre) coached Ferguson for two years while the pair were at Birmingham City

‘The plan worked in possession. We had runners in midfield who could play off our big centre-forward (Nicola Zigic). We had to convince everyone not to give Barry the ball. Barry bought into that. He was a team player in that respect.’

Ferguson was crucial defensively. ‘Against the ball he was excellent. We had a lot of interceptions on that day at Wembley,’ adds Grant. ‘You must remember that Barry as a player could do both sides of the game. 

‘In attack, he could be the playmaker and, at Rangers, he could also be a regular scorer in an advanced position. But he also had that concentration and diligence that made him a good defender. He had a good balance of skills.’

If that sensational victory at Wembley forged an enduring bond between the two, Grant also joined up with Ferguson on Go Radio and enjoyed debating football with him.

‘It’s interesting that we discussed using a back three on many occasions and that is what Barry has done against Fenerbahce,’ says Grant. Rangers beat the Turks 3-1 in Istanbul using that system and then deployed it again on Thursday when they eventually prevailed in a penalty shoot-out.

‘Fenerbahce simply would not have been expecting that in the first leg,’ says Grant. ‘Their scouts would never have seen Rangers playing it and would not suspect that Barry would use it at short notice. Barry, though, is never afraid of making big decisions.’

Grant also points out that Ferguson played extensively in European competitions, adding: ‘He always talked about how Walter (Smith) would set up in Europe. 

‘He learned about the priority being to set up to be difficult to beat. He would talk about how (Dick) Advocaat and Walter would go about that.’

The former Scotland midfielder played a key role in Birmingham’s shock 2011 League Cup win 

Grant believes Ferguson would have been frustrated in his previous coaching roles at Clyde, Kelty Hearts and Alloa. He adds: ‘There are difficulties to managing big teams with expectations, but there are also issues with managing down the leagues.

‘If you have been a great player, there can be a frustration in accepting that some players simply cannot follow your instructions because of their lack of technical ability or game intelligence.’

Ferguson had both. They were the pillars of his playing career and now inform his coaching.

‘The biggest development for me is Rangers going to a back three,’ says Grant. ‘People think it is defensive but I think it is an aggressive formation as it allows two strikers. Barry and I have talked about this many times.

‘Barry thinks about the game more than his detractors might think. He has played under top managers and he knows what he wants. Tactically, he was spot-on in Istanbul. But the difficulty sometimes is in convincing your players, getting that belief. Sometimes you only get that by winning games.’

He adds: ‘Barry sees the big picture. Watching him as a player, you knew he had to understand the game.’

Both Grant and Ferguson understand the reality of the game in Scotland as an Old Firm derby peers over the horizon with its capacity for triumph and despair.

Indeed, Grant made his debut as a Celtic player in the fixture in 1984. ‘Davie (Hay) called me to the ground early and took me into a side room and said: “You’re playing over at Ibrox today. If I didn’t think you could handle it, I would not have picked you”. He then walked out the room.’

Ferguson has been handed the reins at Ibrox until the end of the season 

Ferguson similarly faces his Old Firm debut as Rangers coach on enemy territory. ‘Football doesn’t really change,’ says Grant. ‘The biggest task for Barry will be to galvanise his group. 

‘The most difficult thing for a manager is to instill positivity, particularly when players have been getting battered from pillar to post. But Barry will be annoyed at the inconsistency of the team.

‘He watches them claw back a victory after being down 2-0 in Kilmarnock and then lose at home to Motherwell. This is then followed by an impressive win in Istanbul. That is where frustration comes as a manager.’

Grant’s coaching career has been wide-ranging, involving stints at the national team and in the top division in England with Birmingham, Fulham and Aston Villa. His return to Celtic in June 2009 as assistant to Tony Mowbray held a specific challenge.

‘I didn’t want to be a supporter in the dugout,’ he says. ‘I had worked very hard to get my licences and wanted to be respected and regarded firstly as a coach, though everyone knew my allegiances with the club. 

‘When Celtic scored, I didn’t want to be the guy who runs up and down the touchline with a scarf. I wanted to be the calm head that organised the response.

‘I could not be the supporter. In my heart, yes. But not pitchside. I had a job to do.’

He adds: ‘I gave every club my best whether as a player or a coach because they were paying me my wages. Your job is to send people home happy. There is a pressure with that, though, when it is the club you love.

The interim manager lapped up the celebrations with Vaclav Cerny after defeating Fenerbahce

‘You have to remember that the names on the back of the shirt change but the badge on the front always remains.’

Ferguson, the Rangers supporter, will have to be similarly focused tomorrow. Grant says: ‘His concern will be to make sure that his team sticks with the gameplan and he will try to get small details on to the park during the game. Good luck with that, though. I never heard anything but the crowd in a game against Rangers.’

He shares one further trait with his one-time radio buddy. There were reports that Ferguson broke two ribs in the early stages of that 2011 cup final but continued to play without complaint.

‘I remember he was injured,’ recalls Grant. ‘It may have been in the build-up rather than in the match but he would not have said much about it.’

This chimes with a cup final experience for Grant. He was man of the match in the 1995 Scottish Cup final when Celtic beat Airdrie 1-0, ending a trophy drought. Yet the midfielder played with an injured knee.

‘I was carried off at Dundee United and everyone thought my season was over,’ he says. ‘But my knee was patched up and put in a brace and I phoned Tommy (Burns, manager) a couple of days before the game and said I would be ready.’ He was. ‘The pain in training when I first kicked a ball…’

The precise feeling remains unarticulated but the memory of the moment lingers.

There was pain at Wembley 2011 for Ferguson and for Grant at Hampden 1995. But there was triumph, too. It is another bridge that links them across the great divide.