Barry Ferguson will feel like the man of the moment in Glasgow after he sealed an emotional return to Rangers in a seismic week for the club.
The 47-year-old cemented his Ibrox legend status with 288 appearances and 15 trophies in two glorious playing spells at the Old Firm giants. And now 16 years from last donning the Light Blue kit he takes over as interim manager until the end of the season.
And there is plenty to do to restore some confidence after Philippe Clement was relieved of his duties after overseeing a dismissal finale to his Rangers rein. The Belgian’s fate was sealed after Saturday’s dismal 2-0 home defeat to St Mirren and the staggering 1-0 elimination at the hands of Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup. Those results were sandwiched in between the exclusive Record Sport story that the 49ers are aiming for a takeover of the club. It’s never quiet in Govan.
Fergie will be joined by number of familiar faces with Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Allan McGregor brought in as backroom staff, with Issame Charai staying on as number two. And there is little time to settle with their first game in charge coming at Rugby Park on Wednesday night against Kilmarnock. The Gers last visit ended 1-0 to Derek McInnes’ men – a repeat would make a dire start for a man who has not managed since his Alloa Athletic stint ended on February 12, 2022.
So, there is not time to waste for the former Blackpool, Clyde and Kelty Hearts boss. Record Sport takes a look at the big obstacles facing Ferguson, his potential first IX and what to look out for as the Rangers tale takes another twist.
1 – Creating a style of play with a ‘Scottish core’
During his 18-month spell in charge, Philippe Clement never managed to nail down a consistent style of play. Whether sitting back or pressing high up the pitch the set up never sat right with much of the Gers faithful – and that led to inconsistent results. The tail-off mimics his time at Monaco in France. He joined in January 2022 and led the Principality club to third place in Ligue 1 and Champions League football. But the following full season he could only muster a sixth-place finish and was sacked shortly after.
Ferguson has previously emphasised the need to bring in homegrown players off the back of signing Connor Barron. He said: “It was good to see Connor Barron checking in. He’s a young player I’ve liked the look of for a while and exactly the type of profile I believe the club should be striving to add more regularly.
“The team I played for certainly wasn’t short on foreign flare. But those big-money signings from abroad were always built around a Scottish core who knew the club and understood how things worked in Glasgow. Guys like Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller and Stevie Naismith were just as important down the years as a Ronald de Boer, Arthur Numan or Pedro Mendes.”
2 – James Tavernier captaincy dilemma
James Tavernier has been a massive contributor to the club over the years but has been linked with the exit door since last summer. The 33-year-old was on the end of scathing criticism from Ferguson after the Gers 3-0 Old Firm defeat, accusing him of being to silent for a captain. He said: “I was captain of the team but I also had four or five teammates who wouldn’t shut up on the pitch.
“I’m being serious and it’s so important. You need communication, you need to sometimes give people a kick up the backside, you need to let them know ‘listen we need to get our finger out here, this is not good enough’.”
After the full-back, whose contract runs out in summer 2026, was dropped by Clement earlier this season Ferguson said: “You can’t expect to be bombproof just because you happen to be the skipper.” It opens up the possibility of a change with Fergie revealing in November that vice-skipper Jack Butland would be well suited to the role. An outsider for the armband, according to the former midfielder, is centre back John Souttar who is a mainstay in the backline.
3 – Dressing room silence as Allan McGregor meets once-mooted successor
It’s change days from Ferguson’s era at Rangers – but with Billy Dodds, Allan McGregor and Neil McCann in the dressing room a throwback is on the cards. If Ferguson has his way, that is something he will demand.
After hearing murmurs of a radio silent dressing room following defeat to Kilmarnock, he wrote: “I heard someone say the away dressing room was a very quiet place after the final whistle. Hold on a minute, a quiet place? If I was in there I’d be turning it upside down on the back of a defeat which could not have come at a worse moment.”
One player that will have a keen ear for what McGregor will say is number two stopper Liam Kelly. The 29-year-old, as Gers youth product, watched the iconic stopper train up close and it has left an impression ever since. Speaking last month Kelly said: “The way guys like him carried themselves is the way it has to be for us going forward.”
4 – Tutoring young midfielder Bailey Rice
Clement and Nils Koppen made attempts to slowly rebuild the Rangers squad with younger players. The likes of Borna Barisic, John Lundstram and Connor Goldson all left Ibrox last summer to freshen up the team. Fans have clamoured for new signings despite the club’s recent financial woes.
But one place Barry Ferguson may look is in the academy. Starting with 18-year-old Bailey Rice. The teen has made a handful of appearances and even impressed Rio Ferdinand during his Old Trafford cameo against Manchester United in the Europa League. The former centre back praised the youngster for “seeing pictures” in the middle of the park. Ferguson himself said earlier this month that defensive midfielder Rice could be in the Rangers engine room for 15 years. And he could be just the man to help take the prodigy to the next level.
5 – Giving youth a chance
Having come through the academy ranks himself, Ferguson has heaped praise on young players getting a chance at Ibrox: “I see that exact same door now opening for the likes of Bailey Rice and Findlay Curtis – two young academy graduates who are now ready to take that same pathway I did. The same goes for Clinton Nsiala and Hamza Igamane.
“Even though they have been brought into the club more recently. All of these young men now have the chance to make that shirt their own and the next four or five months can be the making of them as Rangers players.”
Now he has a chance to give youth a platform until the end of the season. That would fit into the long-touted Rangers player-trading model.
6 – Channelling the spirit of 2008
The only competition Rangers can have a serious go in now is the Europa League. The Ibrox club face a tough battle against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in the last-16 with a potential clash with Manchester United on the cards in the quarter-final. But Ferguson knows a thing or two about unlikely runs in Europe.
He was part of the Rangers side that knocked out Sporting Lisbon, Werder Bremen and Fiorentina en route to the 2008 UEFA Cup final in Manchester. That is where their adventure ended with a 2-0 defeat to Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg. But if he can mastermind a deep run in the Europa League he could leave an indelible mark in his short stint in the Ibrox hot seat.
Predicted Barry Ferguson Rangers XI
Starting: (4-2-3-1) Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Propper, Jefte, Diomande, Raskin, Cerny, Dessers, Hagi, Igamane.
Bench: Kelly, Yilmaz, Bajrami, Lawrence, Nsiala , Barron, Danilo.
Reserves: Fernandes, Rice, McCausland, King, Sterling, Balogan, Kasanwirjo, Curtis.