Celtic in August 2000. After being sent off in the match, he had made obscene gestures to the crowd and then went drinking in Bothwell in his club tracksuit. When the club crashed out of the UEFA Champions League group stage at the hands of AS Monaco, largely because of a mistake by captain Lorenzo Amoruso, the Italian was stripped of the captaincy and it instead went to the 22-year-old Ferguson. An incident in which two bags of ice were thrown at the Celtic dug-out during a 2–0 defeat at Ibrox in September 2001 was attributed to Ferguson, who was criticised for his petulance and immaturity. Celtic manager Martin O'Neill played down the incident, saying he thought the ice had been thrown by his club's doctor. The young Ferguson went on to successfully guide his team to a League Cup and Scottish Cup later that season under manager Alex McLeish, who had replaced Advocaat in December 2001. In the latter final, another Old Firm clash, Ferguson tied the score at 2–2 with a free kick (Peter Lovenkrands scored the winning goal). During their second season together, 2002–03, Ferguson captained the side to a domestic treble. After scoring 18 goals from midfield, he also won Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year. Blackburn Rovers On 29 August 2003, Ferguson joined Premier League club Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £7.5 million. With Everton also chasing Ferguson, Rangers had initially denied that he was leaving. He made his Blackburn debut in a Premier League match against Liverpool on 19 September at Ewood Park, and scored his first goal against the same team, also at Ewood Park, during a League Cup match on 29 October. Graeme Souness made Ferguson captain of Blackburn in July 2004 and he seemed to be adapting well to Premiership football, despite the team still struggling and a managerial change, which saw Mark Hughes replacing Souness. However, after 16 months at the club, including a lengthy period out through injury after fracturing his kneecap in a Premiership match against Newcastle United, during the January 2005 transfer window, Ferguson submitted a written transfer request, admitting that the draw of playing in the Premiership and a Lancashire derby could not compare with an Old Firm match, nor could the team's desire to win be matched. Rangers (second spell) After much discussion between