The sacrifice Barry Ferguson had to make to be a success at Birmingham City
BARRY Ferguson has revealed how he sacrificed family life in a bid to be a Blues success and ‘shut a few people up’.
With Alex McLeish’s men on course to register the club’s highest finish in over half a century, Ferguson can quite rightfully reflect on a tremendous return to English football.
Having left his boyhood club Rangers for a second time last summer, the midfielder was once again looking to prove his worth in arguably the best league in the world.
Some had incorrectly labelled him a flop during his time at Blackburn, having not taken into consideration his lengthy lay-off in Lancashire with a fractured knee-cap.
Add to that the fact that the exiled Scotland international had extra motivation to succeed down south having left Ibrox under a cloud.
Now, being one of the favourites to pick up Blues’ player-of-the-season award, Ferguson can consider it mission complete.
However, the past season hasn’t come without its sacrifices for the 32-year-old.
With his wife Margaret and three young children settled north of the border, or ‘up the road’ as Scot likes to put it, Ferguson didn’t want to cause upheaval by moving them to the West Midlands.
So the Glaswegian headed to Blues on his own, shut himself off from his family life and put in extra hours on the training ground.
“My children are settled in school up the road but that doesn’t bother me because I came down here and I can concentrate on my football,” Ferguson said.
“I’m not getting any younger and I want to try and play for as long as I can. So I spend a bit more time on the training ground doing some extra things to try and get an extra couple of years out of myself.
“The way I look at it is that you’re a long time finished in football. I know my family are always going to be there for me and obviously they know the reasons why I had to come down to England.
“I don’t know whether it was to prove a point but maybe to shut a few people up and hopefully I’ve done that. As long as the fans are happy, they know what they’re going to get out of me.
“My kids are settled in their schools and I’ve got to be realistic, I’m not going to be down here for five years, I’ll be down here for another couple of seasons hopefully.”
After almost 16 years in the senior game, Ferguson still has a hunger to play on but for how long?
Even he’s not sure.
“I don’t set myself an age,” he continued. “I just take it season-by-season. To be honest, I’ve got a new lease of life coming down here, I feel fresh and I’m hungry to do well and that’s a big thing for myself.”
Although he hasn’t worn the skipper’s armband for Blues this season, Ferguson is a natural leader having captained Rangers, Blackburn and Scotland throughout his career.
He admits that in the long run, he’d consider moving into coaching but not before taking a well-earned break.
For the time being, he’s relishing being a part of the new era at St Andrew’s and wants to see things continue in the encouraging manner they started.
However, Ferguson is quick to highlight the importance of Alex McLeish, also his former boss for Rangers and Scotland, to his own and the club’s ambitions.
“To be honest I just want to enjoy my time at Birmingham and keep playing. I think when I finish I would like to get into coaching but I would take a year or so out,” Ferguson added.
“I’ve got another year left here. I think it could be the start of good times here and I certainly want to be part of it for as long as I can. I’m sure I can play for another two or three years.
“I’m enjoying myself here, I’ve said on numerous occasions that I’ve settled in so quickly, it’s a great bunch of lads and great people around the club. I’d love to finish my time here.
“But obviously I’d like the manager to get his contract sorted out and then hopefully if he gets the backing then it could be good times ahead for Birmingham.
“You can see what the manager has done this year with a limited budget and limited resources.
“Obviously he’s gone on record saying he wants to improve things around the training ground so that can only be good for everyone connected.”
source: Sunday Mercury
