Disgruntled Barry Ferguson praised his Rangers side for recovering from a 3-1 down to defeat Dundee 4-3 at Dens Park after a stirring late comeback – but admitted “there were a lot of things” he didn’t like about the performance.
The interim Ibrox boss admitted taking maximum points from a game they would have lost before his arrival was a pleasing aspect, but has warned his players that they need to buck up their ideas as he slammed “old habits” creeping back into the Light Blues’ play.
The visitors twice fell two goals behind in Tayside before second half goals from James Tavernier and Tom Lawrence set up a grandstand finish to the contest. Dundee’s Simon Murray struck the post in the first minute of added time and opposite number Cyriel Dessers poked home a last-gasp winner.
“It’s a brilliant three points but overall, certainly the first half, we were miles off it,” a frustrated Ferguson admitted. “You can see in my face it’s frustration, I saw so many old, bad habits come in. I had to make a couple of changes at half-time, I had to change the shape of the team from a three to a four to try to…kick-start us basically.
“Second half was more like it, but we were giving too many opportunities and easy goals away. We were sloppy at times. I said to them after it, there’s a lot of work needs to happen this week. We need to sit down, go through things and work hard on the training ground because there were a lot of things I didn’t like.
“One thing about my players is they never give in. This has been labelled at them for a long time now, but I think five or six weeks ago, Rangers would come away with nothing. The Rangers team I have got just now, my players, that’s the side I’ve drilled into them.
“But we need to do a lot better with other things within the game, in terms of how we approach it from the start. I warned them what it would be like coming here, but we gave Dundee a goal of a start. We were sloppy, off it.
“Obviously we got the goal back, in at half-time and a few choice words were said. I had to make some tough decisions. I’m not scared to make tough decisions. I’ve said that and they know that. Overall, a brilliant three points but there’s a lot of work to be done still.”
