Rangers fine, suspend and transfer list Ferguson and McGregor

Ewan Murray
Failure to heed the orders of Walter Smith in the aftermath of a drinking session six days ago has called time on the Rangers and Scotland careers of Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor.

The errant duo were today suspended for a fortnight and fined wages for the same period by Rangers as the fallout from last Sunday's antics at the Cameron House hotel reached epic proportions. Ferguson has been stripped of the captaincy; privately it has been made clear neither will play for the club again.

"The overall conduct of the players during the last week while on Scotland duty has, regrettably, fallen considerably short of the standards expected by Rangers football club and our supporters, and has brought the club into disrepute," said the chief executive Martin Bain.

The Scottish FA has taken similar action, with a statement confirming neither will be considered for future international selection. "This action has been taken in the best interest of the squad, the fans and the country," read a statement. Ferguson and McGregor were dropped from the Scotland team to face Iceland on Wednesday after a drinking binge which began at the national team hotel upon return from the World Cup qualifier against Holland – at about 4am – and lasted until lunchtime.

Smith contacted his players on Monday to stress they should accept whatever punishment came their way, and with good grace. However matters took a turn for the worse as Ferguson and McGregor were clearly pictured and filmed making offensive gestures before kick-off on Wednesday as they sat among the Scotland substitutes for the Iceland game.

"Drink-wise, yes, it was in itself wrong," Smith explained. "But they are not the first group of Scottish players to do that. What was more disappointing for me was their subsequent reaction when they were on the bench. I don't think it reflected well on them and certainly did not reflect well on the club.

"My own feeling overall is one of disappointment that it has come to this. But I don't feel, as a club, we could be seen to have ignored the incidents."

Rangers will invite offers for the pair in the close season. Ferguson has a contract worth around £25,000 a week until next summer but McGregor, the goalkeeper, is only one season into a £15,000 a week, five-year deal. In the meantime what is unquestionably a bold decision by the manager may have serious repercussions for a closely fought race with Celtic for the Scottish Premier League championship. David Weir has been installed as Rangers' new captain and Neil Alexander will take over as the goalkeeper.

"From a football point of view, it is a blow that we have had to take this action and it is one of the biggest decisions I have had to take," Smith said.

"It is regrettable and I'll always feel that but I could not see us taking any other course of action."

This is not the first time Ferguson or McGregor have been involved in controversy. The former Rangers manager Paul Le Guen stripped Ferguson of the captaincy and sought to put him up for sale just over two years ago; Le Guen departed Ibrox shortly afterwards with his replacement, Smith, reinstating the midfielder. McGregor, meanwhile, has been a regular on tabloid front pages on account of his colourful private life.

"I deeply regret what happened last weekend and the events during the last week and apologise wholeheartedly for the embarrassment caused to Scotland, Rangers, both sets of supporters and my friends and family," Ferguson said last night.

McGregor added: "We all make mistakes in life and I am very disappointed to have let Rangers, Scotland, my family all the fans down. I am also desperately disappointed that I will not be selected again for Scotland at this stage in my career."

Life without Ferguson and McGregor begins with Rangers' visit to Falkirk tomorrow.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer