Barry Ferguson insists he has qualms about making tough decisions at Rangers after he substituted dismal defender Clinton Nsiala at 2-0 down before they came back to win 4-2 at Rugby Park.
It was a nightmare start for the former Gers captain in his first game as interim boss as defender Joe Wright and skipper Brad Lyons had Derek McInnes’s men two ahead in 14 minutes before the 21-year-old Nsiala, signed from AC Milan last summer, was replaced by Ridvan Yilmaz on the half-hour mark in a bid to stop the rot.
Vaclav Cerny pulled a goal back in the 35th minute before a Cyriel Dessers brace after the break and a late strike by substitute Nedim Bajrami got Ferguson off to winning start.
He said: “Clinton’s a young player, he’s got huge potential, but it could have been a number of players.
“But I’ve been brought here to do a job, I have to make some tough decisions at times.
“I’m not scared to make tough decisions, but it worked.
“But listen, Clinton, we’re going to work with him, we’re going to make him better, and he’ll learn from it.
“So it’s nothing against the young man, as I said, I think he’s got a bright, bright future in front of him. ”
Ferguson, who took over from sacked Philippe Clement on Monday, admits “all sorts” were going through his head after 15 minutes but claimed his side showed character and desire to rescue the game which left them 13 points behind William Hill Premiership leaders Celtic.
He said: “It wasn’t the start that I expected, what I demanded. But one thing I’ve got to give my players is credit, because it’s easy to fold.
“That’s been aimed at them all season. I spoke about character, about desire, and that’s one thing that they certainly showed me. I’ve got to give them praise for that.
“There’s a lot of things to work on, but when you come to a place like Kilmarnock, it’s never easy, it’s tough.
“So for us to come back from 2-0 down, and what’s obviously been aimed at this group of players now for a number of months, I’m delighted for them but it’s only one game.
“We go back, we refocus, and it needs to be the same sort of performance, level of performance that we certainly showed in the second half.
“Some of the football we played at times was really good, but they showed a real desire, and that’s what my team is going to be all about from now until the end of the season.”
McInnes believes his side got too excitable after going 2-0 up so early then missing a couple of good chances.
He said: “It shouldn’t be having to get three goals or four goals.
“I just thought we became a bit excitable in the game.
“We did everything I was hoping we would do in the first period that first 35 minutes.
“I loved the personality. I love the aggression of the team. I loved how we played the game.
“We took on an instruction. We unsettled Rangers and we made it the type of game that needed to be.
“But I just feel we get caught up in the game a bit and we’ve got a bit excitable.
“I don’t thing we reacted well at 2-2. Rangers sniffed blood. We have to learn from that but we gave it a go.
“Some bad decisions and defending allowed us to come away with nothing.”
