Lewis Ferguson admits Rangers rejection drove career progression after Ibrox ambition dashed

Lewis Ferguson has acknowledged that his desire to prove Rangers wrong as a youngster was fueled by his own rejection as a teenager.

The Bologna midfielder expressed to Corriere di Bologna on January 22 that he had “tunnel vision”

towards his dream of playing for

the club he grew up for, having been the nephew of former Ibrox players Barry and Derek, respectively.

Ferguson claims the Scotland international took a “total leap” psychologically after being released at the age of 14. Gazzetta dello Sport

(November 27, 2011) called him the “jewel” of his present club, one they don’t want to lose despite interest

from teams like Juventus, Napoli, and Lazio.

He said: “With a family like that I didn’t have much other choice: I was born with football in my head, at home, everywhere,

always. When I was young I also played for Rangers, in my head I had to play for that club when I grew up.

“I grew up rooting for that team, I didn’t see anything different for me, we say Tunnel Vision. At 14 I was forced to leave:

‘You’re not good enough,’ was the judgement. It was pretty tough.

“After that rejection, however, my mentality changed, there was an outburst.

I wanted to prove to those who had rejected me that they were wrong.

“At the age of 14 or 15, I had a complete epiphany: I wanted to devote all of my strength to being a professional. The club Hamilton in

my town near Glasgow was abandoned by me. They’re fantastic. They bring out the best in the children,

and I experienced the same thing.