Dick Advocaat: Barry Ferguson is top class

By Ewing Grahame
Last Updated: 2:25AM BST 09 May 2008

Zenit St Petersburg coach Dick Advocaat believes that Rangers captain Barry Ferguson should be playing for Manchester United in the Champions League final against Chelsea rather than leading his team out against Zenit St Petersburg in the Uefa Cup final.

Advocaat made Ferguson Rangers' captain during his tenure as manager at Ibrox but, on a spying mission to Glasgow ahead of Wednesday's meeting between the clubs at the City of Manchester Stadium, the Dutchman claimed that Ferguson is under-achieving at Ibrox.

"I was surprised that he came back to Rangers from Blackburn," he said. "Mind you, I was surprised he played for Blackburn in the first place. He has much more talent than that and could still play for a top-four club in England.

"It was a good move by David Murray to bring him back but he should be at Arsenal or Manchester United. He is not a lesser player than Owen Hargreaves and some others. I think he could play there, too.

"I know he was homesick. The Blackburn team was not doing so well and I think he wanted to come back to Scotland."

Advocaat revealed that he applied for the vacancy at Ewood Park when Graeme Souness left to join Newcastle United in September 2004, and he believes that if he had been chosen for the job then Ferguson would still be playing in England.

"I tried to become their manager when Souness left," Advocaat said. "They decided not to take a foreigner and took Mark Hughes.

"Ferguson was still there and there were other former Rangers players like Lorenzo Amoruso, Craig Moore and Tugay.

"If I had gone to Blackburn, I'm sure Barry would have stayed. He was captain then. It could have been very different for quite a few people - and for Blackburn.

"For me, with his potential, he could have done it in the Premiership. However, if he wins the Uefa Cup with Rangers it will mean an awful lot to him.

"Also, with the Old Firm, you are always competing in Champions League - you don't get that at Ewood Park."

Advocaat also dropped a bombshell by claiming that Rangers owner David Murray had considered bringing him back to Ibrox midway through 2005/06, when Alex McLeish's side finished a poor third. "Could I come back to Rangers now? No," he said. "But in the past there was a period when there was something wrong at Rangers,.

"There were some rumours about me and I was not against it. But they decided to take another road. Yes, I spoke to David. He phoned me - or maybe I phoned him. But they took another decision and didn't take me. That was good because then I got the South Korea job."

Another former employee who will be looking to indulge in some friendly fire next week will be full-back Fernando Ricksen, who was exiled from Ibrox during Paul Le Guen's ill-starred reign.

The Dutch star was as famous for his carousing as he was for his football but Advocaat believes the fearsome Russian penal system has acted as a useful deterrent for the 31-year-old.

"Fernando has had injuries, but because he has respect for me, he doesn't do stupid things," he said. "Whether or not he plays in the final has to do with whether our regular right-back, Alexander Anyukov, is fit.

"I don't care about it being an emotional night for Ricksen. I care about what is my best team at the time.

""I think he doesn't do crazy things because he knows the police in Russia would not give him a very nice time. The prisons in Scotland are very poor, I heard, but in Russia maybe you would be in there with eight people! Because of that, he is careful."

Barry Ferguson v Owen Hargreaves Age: 30
International Caps: 43
Honours: Three SPL titles, three League Cups, two Scottish Cups.
Ferguson became the youngest captain in Rangers history in 2001. He is attempting to become only the second Rangers player after John Greig to have won three domestic trebles.
A £7.5 million move to Blackburn Rovers failed to work out and he returned to Glasgow for £5 million 17 months later. The midfielder is also the Scotland captain.
Owen Hargreaves
Age: 27 International caps: 41 Honours: Champions League, four Bundesliga titles, three German Cups.
The ultra-disciplined holding midfielder was only 20 when he helped Bayern lift European football's most prestigious club prize and the following year he was starring for England in the World Cup finals. Long coveted by Sir Alex Ferguson, he joined Manchester United for £17 million last summer and could be set to add a Premiership medal and another Champions League badge to his trophy cabinet.