CONGRATULATIONS must go to Derek McInnes for being the solitary member of a very exclusive club: the only manager to be outwitted by Barry Ferguson.
Del Boy watched Kilmarnock’s early two-goal advantage disintegrate at Rugby Park last night as his dug-out opponent kicked off his interim stint as the latest Rangers saviour.
Wee Barry is obviously taking the role as Big Phil’s successor seriously and he has the brown brogues to prove it.
After a managerial stretch amid the mediocrity of Clyde, Kelty Hearts and Alloa, the club’s former captain and midfielder didn’t hesitate as he accepted the challenge to be second to Celtic in the Premiership saunter this season.
He looked as proud as Punch as he watched his team come back from two goals adrift in only 14 minutes to win 4-2 and slash the champions’ lead at the pinnacle to a mere thirteen points.
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHED…Barry Ferguson and Derek McInnes at full-time.
With 10 league game remaining, even Wee Barry will grudgingly accept there will be no silverware parade in Govan in May.
Credit, though, to this titan of the touchline who saw off his old Ibrox colleague McInnes in an intriguing tussle of tactics in a raw evening in Ayrshire.
The caretaker gaffer deserves credit for producing the hook for the wayward Clinton Nsiala, with the French defender being rag-dolled by the Killie forwards. That switch – “inspired,” said one observer – came around the half-hour mark and triggered the revival.
Mind you, the visitors could have been even deeper in the brown stuff before that innovative move after Marley Watkins blew two excellent opportunities to push Killie away from the relegation zone where they currently reside third bottom on 31 points, four above Dundee and seven ahead of stricken St Johnstone.
Actually, despite the ingenious substitution of Nsiala, some may have questioned the player being selected in the first place after his awful display in the 2-0 loss to St Mirren at Ibrox at the weekend, the flop that eventually saw Big Phil put out of his misery.
However, that may be seen as nitpicking.
March will be upon us soon enough and the month will bring fixtures that will surely test Wee Barry’s strategic nous to the max.
There is a trip across Glasgow on March 16 to square up to rampant Celtic, thundering towards their fourth successive title, their thirteenth flag in 14 years and their 55th crown in their coveted history.
I hasten to add all these championships have been earned without any whiff of financial jiggery-pokery. Untainted is a good word to describe these commendable successes.
But, ahead of that encounter, just 24 hours before St Patrick’s Day, Wee Barry and Co will have faced Fenerbahçe twice in the Europa League.
Following the mastermind exhibition at Rugby Park, Brendan Rodgers will now be aware of the perils that could await him when he jousts with a worthy rival.
And I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if Jose Mourinho is currently shaking in his Gucci loafers.
ALEX GORDON
