Inside Russell Martin's phone call with Rangers predecessor
Ferguson wanted the job on a permanent basis this summer.
However, the club's new American-based ownership conducted the recruitment process for a new head coach, and ex-Southampton boss Martin prevailed as the top candidate.
Read more:
Now, Ferguson has revealed that he recently spoke to Martin for the first time since all of the recent goings-on.
And he has backed him to be a success in his new gig at Rangers.
"I like the way he speaks to the press, I've spoke to him privately and it was the first time I spoke to him," Ferguson told Go Radio's Football Show. "I came off the phone with him and I was impressed by him.
"He gets it, he understands it, I think if something doesn't go right he'll go and fix it."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
a few seconds ago
- The Guardian
Will Hearts' army of data nerds back up Tony Bloom's title talk?
Despite the Scottish Premiership title race being more predictable than Football Daily at a bottomless brunch, fitba has never been short of drama. Who can forget Ross County deleting their own website, Kirk Broadfoot suffering facial burns after microwaving an egg and former Hearts manager Robbie Neilson trying to give journalists the slip as he left the club's training ground by sending out a decoy (sports scientist John Hill) to the car park in a Robbie Neilson mask. Edinburgh, very much the second city in Scotland when it comes to football, still has one of the game's finest rivalries between two grand old clubs, Hearts and Hibernian. Each have had their moments in recent derbies: last year Hearts' Lawrence Shankland celebrated scoring a penalty by catching and eating a pie thrown by a Hibs supporter. In March, Jack Iredale scored a screamer to win the derby for Hibs. The post-match celebrations at Easter Road featured one of the finest ever renditions of Sunshine on Leith, a song sung with so much feeling that it left some Hibs players in tears. And who can blame them? If you get goosebumps watching that song, imagine what it must be like to come from that corner of Scotland, stand on that terrace and sing those lyrics in front of your victorious team. Magic. The point is, fitba is far greater than just Rangers and Celtic. And this is very much the opinion of Tony Bloom, the owner of Brighton who bought a 29% stake in Hearts this summer for £9.86m. Following the club's opening win over Aberdeen – a 2-0 victory that leaves the Jambos top of the Premiership table – Bloom was in a bullish mood as he faced the media, explaining that he thinks Hearts can challenge for glory. 'If we have not won the league title in the next 10 years, I will be very disappointed,' Bloom stated. 'I want to make sure that we are in the talk to win the title at the start of each season.' We have heard this sort of patter before, a new owner coming in and telling a club's supporters what they want to hear. The difference is, Bloom has a track record of using his army of data nerds and analytics gurus to drastically improve clubs with savvy recruitment. Brighton are now one of the best run clubs in England, while Union Saint-Gilloise, who were bottom of Belgium's second tier when the Englishman took over in 2018, won the Belgian top flight a few months ago for the first time in 90 years and are in Bigger Cup. The last time a club that wasn't called Celtic or Rangers won the Scottish Premiership was 1985 and the last time Hearts won it was 65 years ago, but Bloom seems untroubled. 'I understand there will be a lot of Celtic and Rangers fans, maybe Hibs and Aberdeen fans, who will be laughing and saying 'we've heard it all before',' he blathered. 'I just thought there was an opportunity here to shake things up in Scotland. I think we've got a very good chance of at least being second this season. I've just got a lot more confidence of what Hearts can do compared to when I did my first press conference at Union seven years ago.' Bloom has wasted no time in bringing in a new striker, Cláudio Braga, who (very much in the Brighton ilk) was signed from Norwegian second-division side FK Aalesunds for around £400,000. The Portuguese bagged four goals in five pre-season matches – including one in a 3-0 win over Premier League Sunderland – and already has a chant among the Tynecastle faithful: 'All we need is … Cláudio Braga,' set to the tune of the Queen classic. Sunshine on Leith it is not, but Hearts fans will be getting goosebumps regardless. A couple of friends had come over to see me, we were chatting, and suddenly they said they couldn't understand what I was saying. My speech was slurring. I had gone for a walk that morning and felt wobbly, just very lethargic. I was sapped of any energy and a couple of times I felt as though I might stumble but I didn't' – in an extract from a new book, the former Portsmouth, Leeds and Exeter defender Noel Blake talks about the emotional and physical battle of recovering from a stroke. Celta Vigo signing Athletic Bilbao youngster Luis Bilbao and signing Bryan Zaragoza are yet more disappointing nails in coffin of nominative determinism. Now, it's just me and a lad I knew at school called Gareth Thickett who failed all his exams that are keeping up the good fight …' – Noble Francis. I rarely agree with Dr Tottenham, but he's right … it will be greatly appreciated when he leaves' – Chris Brown. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our letter o' the day is … Chris Brown, who lands some Football Weekly merch. Terms and conditions for our competitions are here. Our man David Squires veers away from football this week to tell the story of his boxing forebear who died on the Titanic. It's well worth your time. On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and a host of your other Football Weekly favourites live on stage for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London and livestreamed globally. Book now. Football stardom is a young person's game these days. As in: very young. The stars of the future have social media disgrace presences way before they can apply for a provisional driving licence – all part of the career plan. And these young ballers recognise ball, to use a phrase we're decades too old to carry off. Judging by Monday night's showing against Athletic Bilbao, Rio Ngumoha is a kid for Liverpool fans to get VERY excited about, capping it with a beautiful goal. He's only 16, and his performance was hailed by Max Dowman, Arsenal's heir apparent, still just 15 but of whom huge things are expected. Dowman described Ngumoha as 'the coldest' on InstaChat, using ye olde vernacular of time-served veteran Cole Palmer, 23. Gunners fans are hoping to see their future king in the first team soon, alongside such oldsters as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri. Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has appeared in court charged with six sexual offences. The 32-year-old was bailed to appear at the Old Bailey for trial later this year over allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denies. Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan expects the crisis club to play their opening game of the Championship season against Leicester on Sunday. 'It's easier to pull out of a pre-season friendly game than it is a Championship fixture,' he sighed. 'We've come into training and just got on with it.' Manchester United and Newcastle United are involved in a tug of war for Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko, having both tabled bids worth more than £70m. And in other Old Trafford news, the 1958 fans' group will protest against the club's ownership in the opening game of the Premier League season against Arsenal by displaying a banner that could have done with a taste test. It reads: 'Jim Can't Fix This'. Rangers have completed the signing of Go Ahead Eagles winger Oliver Antman on a four-year deal. Celtic have completed the signing of Steven Kangtheconqueror on a four-year deal. Meanwhile, yogi guru Russell Martin insists his scathing assessment of Rangers' players after the draw at Motherwell came from a place of love, man. 'I think if they know us by now as a group of coaching staff, that it all comes from [that] place … really, and [we] care for them,' he ommed. 'They're good people, but the default is to try and protect yourself when it gets tough.' And expect some Hollywood-style long-range passing at Wrexham next season, after Kieffer Moore checked in on a three-year deal from Sheffield United for around £2m. 'I'm over the moon,' yelped the Wales striker. The latest edition of our sister email is here on the Big Cup winner, Marco Simone, and his grand ambitions for a new women's club in Monaco. Jonathan Wilson declares the utter pointlessness of deriving any conclusions from pre-season while, er, deriving some conclusions from pre-season. As Xabi Alonso enters his first Liga season as Real Madrid coach, Coralie Salle hears from those who worked with him when he was dishing out the cones as coach of Real Sociedad's B team. A local affair but an international one too, will take place when Malmö meet FC Copenhagen in Tuesday's all-Scandi Bigger Cup clash. Billy Munday bridges the great divide. Big Website's Premier League pre-season preview series continues with Bournemouth and Brentford, two clubs shorn of key personnel by the bigger boys. And come and get your latest transfer rumours, right here! 4 July 1995: Liverpool moving for the hottest striker in English football is a familiar story. Back in 1995, they got their man in Nottingham Forest's Stan Collymore, seen here with manager Roy Evans after a whopping £8.5m transfer. Stan the Man got off to a decent start with a cracking goal against Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of the 1995-96 season, before forming a deadly partnership with Robbie Fowler, sharing 55 goals. It was a Collymore goal that decided the following April's all-time 4-3 classic with Newcastle but that Liverpool team never achieved its potential. Wearing white suits as losing FA Cup finalists and some tabloid-splashed big nights out led to their Spice Boys tag. Meanwhile, Collymore's form began drifting. The rapid rise of Michael Owen meant he was sold to Aston Villa, his boyhood idols, for £7m, Liverpool never quite enjoying the best of his huge potential.
Telegraph
15 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Inside Everton's torrid summer: 12 player exits, seven failed moves and six signings still needed
David Moyes was on a break from management the previous time he visited Atlanta. It was February 2019 and he had been invited to Super Bowl LIII. The game itself was not the most memorable, with Tom Brady's New England Patriots defeating the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history, but the after-party certainly was. Snoop Dogg was among the performers and, while Moyes is no fan of gangsta rap, it was almost impossible not to get swept up by the spectacular carnival atmosphere and celebrations. Unfortunately for Moyes, who has been back in Atlanta with Everton as part of the Premier League Summer Series which wound to a close on Sunday night, he has had less cause for cheer this time around. The excitement around Everton's move into their new 53,000 capacity Hill Dickinson Stadium has been tempered by a summer of struggle and setbacks in the transfer window, and troubling results and performances on the pitch. It has led Moyes to declare that Everton are 'not ready' for the start of the new Premier League season, with only a fortnight before they kick-off away to newly promoted Leeds United, and left the club playing a frantic game of catch-up with 27 days until the close of the window. Transfer plans have stalled In truth, it was possible to detect a slight lightening in Moyes' mood over the weekend. He hopes to have a couple of new faces in before Everton play Roma in their new ground on the banks of the Mersey on Saturday. Everton agreed a deal worth around £25m with Chelsea for midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on Monday and the chase for Southampton midfielder Tyler Dibling continues. Everton have submitted a third bid worth around £40m including add ons after Southampton rejected offers worth £27m and £35m. Southampton are holding out for more and Everton are carefully weighing up their next move. He was also encouraged to see his side twice come from behind to draw 2-2 with Manchester United at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday evening in a greatly improved display from the defeats by Bournemouth and West Ham, which were both littered with individual mistakes. Equally, the news that England defender Jarrad Branthwaite was, 'with a little bit of luck', set to return to training on Wednesday following injury was another boost at a time when Moyes has been down to the bare bones and in desperate need of reinforcements. But the manager was not going to sugarcoat the situation and has encountered enough disappointment in the window already to remain a little uneasy. 'We've picked up but not enough and not as far as we need,' he said. 'I would have hoped we'd be much further down the line than we've been. I would love to be able to have a couple of players in [before Saturday] so I could tell the crowd: 'This is the start.' 'I think there will be deals [this] week – I think we're getting much closer – but I've got to say I felt that four or five weeks ago as well. We're getting near the tickly bits and we've got to get some things done.' Dozen exits left a threadbare squad, then a series of transfer failures Everton have spent around £52m on four signings this summer. Argentinian midfielder Carlos Alcaraz, who performed well on loan last season from Flamengo, has joined permanently and the promising young France Under-21 striker Thierno Barry arrived from Villarreal. Teenage left back Adam Aznou was signed from Bayern Munich and goalkeeper Mark Travers brought in from Bournemouth as back–up to No. 1 Jordan Pickford. The problem is it is not nearly enough. A dozen players exited at the end of last season, including striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin and midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré, who was asked to take a cut to his £5m a year deal but declined. Moyes, in turn, has been left with a squad critically low on numbers and in urgent need of an injection of quality, particularly in midfield and out wide. Injuries have only compounded his problems and left the manager working with around 15 senior players for the duration of Everton's stay in the US. Moyes wants up to six more signings, including a No 6 and a No 8 midfielder and two wide players but, even for a man who has seen most things during a 27-year career in management, this summer has tested his patience like few others. Indeed, the number of players Everton have missed out on is heading towards double figures. It is not just Newcastle manager Eddie Howe who is encountering repeat frustration. Everton had a medical lined up for Kenny Tete only for the Netherlands defender to decide to stay with Fulham. The exciting young Portugal winger Francisco Conceicao opted to join Juventus permanently after a loan from Porto rather than move to Merseyside and another wide target, Lyon's Malick Fofana, has his sights set on a switch to a Champions League club. There have been other disappointments, too. The Colombia midfielder Richard Rios chose Benfica and the Belgium winger Johan Bakayoko swapped PSV Eindhoven for RB Leipzig in Germany. Real Sociedad were asking for too much for the Japan winger Takefusa Kubo and then there is Joao Palhinha, whom Moyes would have loved to bring in only for the Portugal midfielder to join Tottenham on loan from Bayern. Tomas Soucek was a favourite of Moyes at West Ham and he wants to add a midfielder of similar profile to the Czech. Management upheaval cannot hide recent relegation struggles Certainly for Everton fans desperate for a new era of success in a new stadium under a new management structure and new owners after an emotional farewell to Goodison Park in May, it has been a rather sobering couple of months. Moyes worked wonders last season after returning to the club he had led for 11 years before leaving to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013. Everton were 16th in the Premier League, a point above the relegation zone with only three wins from 19 games and unable to buy a goal, when Moyes replaced Sean Dyche as manager on January 11, just weeks after the Friedkin Group bought the club. They would lose just four of their next 19 matches, amassing 31 points in the process to finish in a comfortable 13th, above Spurs, Manchester United and another of his old clubs, West Ham. There is, naturally, a desire to build on that momentum, just as Everton's new US owners have wasted no time implementing a raft of changes to the management structure. Angus Kinnear was snared from Leeds to become chief executive and Nick Hammond appointed head of recruitment. Nick Cox has joined as technical director from Manchester United and James Smith will take over as director of scouting and recruitment in September after being poached from Manchester City. Yet Moyes fears that, for all the club's lofty ambitions, recent years spent fighting relegation battles are having an impact and influencing players' decisions. He has also noted that there are nine Premier League rivals who are able to offer European football to prospective targets this summer. That is making it doubly hard for Everton. Similarly, he is mindful that bedding in a clutch of new players once the season is underway will be no small task and presents its own challenges. As the Everton defender Michael Keane, 32, acknowledged in recent days, there is a huge onus on the senior players to step up during this difficult period. Grealish the signing Everton's owners can get behind There may be some light at the end of the tunnel before this week is out, though. The Merseyside club have also made a third bid for Dibling but Southampton are still after more and it remains to be seen if an agreement can be struck for the 19-year-old England Under-21 midfielder, who was one of the few success stories at St Mary's last season. The Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz, formerly of Aston Villa and Manchester City, has Premier League experience and is surplus to requirements in Turin. Leicester's James Justin and Ben Doak, the teenage Liverpool winger, are other potential options. And then there is Jack Grealish. While it is clear Moyes has other players he wants in first, it is also easy to see why a loan deal for the Manchester City and England attacking midfielder could hold such appeal to Everton's American ownership. He is the kind of name and maverick talent fans could really get behind and, with the World Cup finals at the end of the season, Grealish has added motivation to get back playing regularly after being omitted from City's Club World Cup squad in June. Everton also have the benefit of being North West based although with Grealish earning around £300,000 a week at City, any deal would be costly and there is likely to be stiff competition for the 29-year-old. Napoli and West Ham are among the other clubs who have been linked with the player. Moyes has a long-standing reputation for developing young domestic and overseas talent. But he wants Everton to be looking towards the top half of the table, not getting sucked towards another relegation battle and, as such, he has been keen to find the right blend between potential and Premier League experience. He needs players, yes, but he will not sign them for the sake of it. The value of experience has certainly been clear to see on Everton's tour of the US, with the team instantly looking more assured at the back once centre-back James Tarkowski returned from a three month injury lay-off. Everton's data analytics operations are being led by Chris Howarth, who sold his company Insight Sport to the Friedkin Group. Moyes is heavily involved in the recruitment process and, for a manager who has always had an eye and a nose for a player, there is a fine balance between trusting the data and his own instincts. Everton, though, need a breakthrough. The clock is ticking and Moyes knows it.
Metro
30 minutes ago
- Metro
Michael Owen predicts where Arsenal and Chelsea will finish next season
Michael Owen has revealed his Premier League top-four prediction for the new season and backed Liverpool to retain the title. Liverpool clinched a record-equalling 20th league title last season, finishing 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal in Arne Slot's first year at Anfield. It was the third season in a row that Mikel Arteta's side finished as runners-up, with the dominant force in English football over the last decade – Manchester City – finishing third. Chelsea beat Nottingham Forest on the final day to finish fourth and secure their return to the Champions League, with Newcastle United also qualifying for Europe's top club competition at the expense of Aston Villa and Forest. Ex-England striker Owen is usually wary of giving title predictions before the summer transfer window shuts but has seen enough from Liverpool over the past 12 months to back his former club to go back-to-back. In The Mixer: Exclusive analysis, FPL tips and transfer talk sent straight to your inbox every week – click here and sign up before Friday to make sure you don't miss the first edition. 'Sometimes at this stage of the year you think you'd like to see the transfer window play out before making a title prediction,' he told Metro via AskGamblers. 'There's still a lot of business to be done but I don't really feel like that at the moment. 'I think Liverpool are far and away the team with the best chance of winning it. I think they've got like a 70% chance of winning it, I really fancy them. 'They were ten points clear last season and they took their foot off the gas. It could've been 20. Even if it ended up being 15, that's a massive gap. 'And they've signed some incredible players over the last month or so. I just think they were the best, and they've strengthened from a position of strength. I think they're going to win it again.' Owen expects 'serious team' Arsenal to finish second for the fourth year in a row and says it would be 'foolish' to think Arteta is under pressure. The Gunners struggled with injuries in the second-half of last season and have spent over £200m so far this summer on the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke. Liverpool Arsenal Chelsea Manchester City 'Looking down the pecking order, I like Arsenal,' Owen said. 'I think it's foolish for fans to think the manager is under pressure just because they've come second three years in a row. 'Arsenal have shown consistency. They've consistently been good and had reasons to believe they were unlucky not to get more points. 'I mean, Bukayo Saka was injured for a large part of last season, Kai Havertz was too. They're probably their two main attacking players. Other key players were out as well. 'So, I think they had a lot of injuries to attacking players that you would say were harsh, and now they've gone and bought a proven goalscorer. 'It's not a guarantee he'll succeed, but there are reasons to believe Arsenal can do better than last season. They're already doing well; they got to the semi-finals of the Champions League. They're a serious team. 'People talk about Arteta, if he has a bad start to the season, because they've got a tough start to the season looking at their fixtures, but even if they had a tricky start to the season, you would be absolutely mad to think he's not the right man. 'He's knocking on the door, and the door's going to bang open soon. Whether it's this season or not remains to be seen.' Owen believes Chelsea's victory over Forest on the final day could be a sliding doors moment and tipped the 'improving' Blues to finish third this season, above Man City. There were more encouraging signs at Stamford Bridge over the summer as Maresca led Chelsea to victory in the controversial Club World Cup tournament. While Owen is excited about 'very good' Chelsea, he is less optimistic about Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, having recently downplayed their chances of winning the Premier League. 'Then we go further down and you're looking at Manchester City and Chelsea,' the 45-year-old added. 'Chelsea are getting better. 'The thing I find ironic about Chelsea is if they had lost to Nottingham Forest [on the final day of the season] and missed out on Champions League, everyone would be saying it's the worst season in the world, and the manager would've been under pressure. 'All of a sudden they qualify and they then win the Conference League, which they could have done with their eyes closed, and then win the Club World Cup. More Trending 'Now everyone's falling in love with Chelsea and thinks they're great. They are a very good team, and they are getting better. They're a very young team. 'But it just makes you laugh, doesn't it? One game last season, if he had lost against Nottingham Forest, would Enzo Maresca still be in a job? 'And now all of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, he's qualified for the Champions League, and he's won two trophies and now the whole picture is different. 'But they are good, and they are improving, and they have got a chance. I definitely think they'll get into the top four. My top four would be Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City, in that order.' For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Arsenal legend Ian Wright sends message to Viktor Gyokeres doubters MORE: Third Premier League club joins race for Chelsea outcast Raheem Sterling MORE: Manchester United submit first offer to sign Benjamin Sesko ahead of Newcastle
