Rangers’ £6m target produces ‘dreadful’ display as chairman confirms Ibrox interest
Barry Ferguson’s Rangers weren’t the only team to face a humiliating home loss this weekend. As the second-place team in the Premiership, Rangers fell 2-0 to Hibernian, with David Gray leading Hibs to their first victory at Ibrox since 2018. This latest defeat marked their fifth consecutive loss at home, following setbacks against Queens Park, St Mirren, Motherwell, and Fenerbahce.
With Athletic Bilbao set to visit Glasgow on Thursday night, Ferguson has indicated that significant “changes” are expected for the Europa League quarter-final first leg. There’s a strong possibility that Rangers will head into the Premiership split seeking to end an astonishing streak of six straight losses at Ibrox.
Meanwhile, in England, just days after Peterborough United chairman Barry Fry noted that Rangers scouts regularly attend matches at London Road, Northampton Town decisively defeated Darren Ferguson’s struggling team, scoring four goals without response. If Rangers scouts were present to observe Kwame Poku, it’s likely their report would not reflect well on his performance.
Kwame Poku suffers Peterborough embarrassment as Rangers eye winger
After providing two goals and two assists in his previous three League One games, Poku appeared to be getting up to speed pretty quickly after three months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
But as Northampton ran riot, this was a rare off day for the London-born Ghana international, if not his inconsistent and occasionally imploding Peterborough employers.
“A Championship club tried to force a deal through for Kwame in January, but he was injured at the time and they didn’t offer anything like what we wanted,” Fry tells Peterborough Today.
“They were just trying to get ahead of the game as they knew there would be many more clubs after him in the summer. He is the best player in League One after all.
“Celtic and Rangers have been at most of our games this season, but I don’t believe Kwame will go to Scotland. He will more likely sign for a top end Championship club.”
This, however, was not a performance which will have clubs higher up the EFL ladder rushing to meet owner Darragh MacAnthony’s £6 million demand; Peterborough expected to receive a substantial fee via a tribunal if Poku joins another English club upon the expiry of his contract.
Jadel Katongo came to Poku’s rescue with the score still goalless after the winger nearly gifted Cameron McGeehan the opener. A bad start, and it wouldn’t get much better from there.
‘Dreadful’ Poku given 3/10 rating as Northampton cruise at London Road
“Poku and [midfielder Hector] Kyprianou were both dreadful,” reporter Alan Swann wrote in his Peterborough Today autopsy.
“We must hope it was the result of poor form, or even the distraction of Wembley [Posh face Birmingham in the EFL Trophy final next week], rather than summer planning that caused such a drop in standard.
“I’m sure Poku and Kyprianou realise the debt they owe Posh for plucking them from relative obscurity and will want to finish their careers here on a high.”
Poku never returned after the half-time interval. By that point, with Peterborough already three goals and one man down, it was far too late for Darren Ferguson to mastermind any semblance of a fightback.
“The star man looked well off it,” Peterborough Today add, Poku one of many players to trudge home with a 3/10 rating. “Almost gifted Cobblers an early goal and kept losing control of the ball.”
With bigger and more important tests looming on the horizon for both Rangers and Peterborough – Athletic in the Europa League and Birmingham at Wembley – the challenge now facing both Fergusons is how they recover.
While Barry looks to get Rangers playing like Rangers should at Ibrox, Darren really could do with Poku bouncing back at the earliest opportunity.
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