Ian Ferguson warns Rangers shouldn't underestimate Ange Postecoglou

Rangers' Nine In A Row hero Ian Ferguson has warned the Ibrox club not to underestimate his old rival Ange Postecoglou . Former Perth Glory manager Fergie clashed with Celtic’s new No. 1 target down under as Postecoglou made his name as the best boss in the Australian top flight. He’s a ...

Ian Ferguson warns Rangers shouldn't underestimate Ange Postecoglou

Rangers' Nine In A Row hero Ian Ferguson has warned the Ibrox club not to underestimate his old rival Ange Postecoglou.

Former Perth Glory manager Fergie clashed with Celtic’s new No. 1 target down under as Postecoglou made his name as the best boss in the Australian top flight.

He’s a huge admirer and insists Postecoglou shouldn’t be written off as Old Firm gaffer material just because all his work has been in Australia and Japan.

Fergie played for Gers when Wim Jansen was dismissed as a nobody on arrival from Japanese football in 1997.

But Jansen stunned those critics by leading Celtic to the title and wrecking Rangers ' dreams of a 10th successive championship.

Postecoglou would be tasked with taking back the Premiership trophy from Ibrox and Ferguson said: “From within the UK, an Australian or Asian coach is probably not regarded in the same way as European coach.

“To me, that’s not right. I’ve watched Ange’s teams and coaching first hand. I’ve also watched European coaches work, like Dick Advocaat.

“And Ange is no mug, he knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s very detailed, works very hard and gets the best out of people.

“People were saying Wim Jansen was a nobody. That’s because THEY didn’t know him - and didn’t do their homework on him, either.

“The last thing I’d do was shout my mouth off and say he was a nobody. He was there for a reason, he’d done plenty in his career to get to manage in Japan to even start with.

Murdo MacLeod and Wim Jansen with League Trophy in 1998
Wim Jansen won the league after arriving from Japan

“Then he went to Celtic, which was a gamble, like it is with any manager. It’s hard for anyone going in there.

“But Ange is a very good coach whose teams play really attractive football.

“He went on to do well with Australia national team - qualifying for World Cup and winning the Asian Cup - then a very good job in the J-League, winning a championship there.”