Sooner or later there’s going to have to be a serious conversation had about Barry Ferguson. Just not quite yet.
And most certainly not based around the chaotic nature of Saturday night’s performance at Dens Park, where Ferguson notched up another victory on his managerial belt in the most dramatic fashion imaginable and yet still struggled to hide his utter exasperation when it was over.
Yes, Rangers might have got out of town with three points thanks to a late winner from Cyriel Dessers but deep down Ferguson must have felt as if his own credentials for the job were being recklessly undermined by a group of players who simply cannot be trusted to turn up for their work.
Just half a dozen games into his role as interim manager it seems reasonable to conclude already that Ferguson splits the room where the Rangers support is concerned.
Some of them will point to the three goals conceded on the road against Dundee as proof that the former skipper and his coaching staff lack the experience and nous required to land the gig on a more permanent basis.
Others will argue, every bit as forcibly, that it was precisely because of their presence on the sidelines that Rangers mustered up the character and resilience to come back from 3-1 down and snatch a 4-3 win at the death.
The body of evidence piled up over the course of a car crash of a campaign under Philippe Clement certainly suggests such a comeback simply would not have happened without Ferguson prowling around in the technical area with a furrowed brow.
It felt almost as if he was daring his players to return to the dressing room without first digging themselves out of a humungous hole.
It was their sloppiness and abject lack of professionalism which got them off to such a wretched start in the first place.
In the opening seconds, Nico Raskin gave up possession cheaply in midfield and the Belgian’s carelessness led to the corner from which Simon Murray stroked Dundee into the lead – but only after skipper James Tavernier had failed to deal aggressively enough with the delivery.
The second goal was the catastrophic combination of a needlessly risky and misplaced header from Hamza Igamane, Dujon Sterling’s defensive dallying and a brain melt from keeper Jack Butland who inexplicably failed to gather Joe Shaughnessy’s header moments before the Dundee skipper followed up to bundle home.
Should Ferguson be blamed for any of that? Or should he be absolutely enraged by it?
Either way, amidst all of Saturday night’s mind boggling imponderables, it’s probably best to draw a line under the 96 minutes of mayhem that went on in Tayside when it comes to having the bigger discussion around what the future holds for Ferguson and his backroom team of Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Allan McGregor
Because, at some stage, it’s going to have to happen.
Andrew Cavenagh will have been watching on from across the pond, having been here in person to see Ferguson knock Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce out of the Europa League before beating Brendan Rodgers at Celtic Park on derby day.
Those spectacular back-to-back successes will have given the American owner in waiting much on which to ponder as he prepares to pick up the keys to the front door.
And, ultimately, it’ll be down to Cavenagh and his backers from the San Francisco 49ers to work out the next step.
What the Philadelphia based businessman should not do, however, is doubt the strength of Ferguson’s desire to lead this club from the front.
It’s highly unlikely, for example, that he would settle for a patronising pat on the head the offer of a place on someone else’s backroom team should Cavenagh and his consortium conclude that they have a different managerial option in mind.
Ferguson simply is not the kind of person to settle for playing second fiddle to anyone and now that he’s had a taste for the top job it’s very probably going to be all or nothing where he is concerned.
Based on more than a decade of experience working with him as a colleague and fellow columnist, it seems safe to assume that Ferguson would rather return to writing for this very newspaper than be restricted to following someone else’s script from a seat at the back of the Ibrox dugout.
What’s more, given how thorough he is in the way he goes about his work, it stands to reason that Ferguson has already got a very clear idea with regards what changes will be required over the summer to make this Rangers squad competitive in time for next season.
The chances are he’ll most probably have gone to the bother of compiling his own list of transfer targets just in case the call does come through from Cavenagh along with the offer of a longer term contract.
And, if that is indeed where his head is at, then the prospect of him being placated with a place on someone else’s staff would seem like a complete and utter non-starter.
While Ferguson might quite enjoy being underestimated he’s also nobody’s fool.
Put it this way, when he was first offered the job in a caretaker capacity he was prepared to turn this once in a lifetime opportunity down unless the board allowed him to hire his own backroom team rather than pick one for him from the employees already inside Auchenhowie.
It was only when they agreed to draft in the trio of McCann, Dodds and McGregor that Ferguson felt inclined to put pen to paper.
It now remains to be seen whether or not Cavenagh and the 49ers believe this is the team they wish to proceed with for the long haul.
Saturday night’s head scratching dramatics in Dundee are unlikely to be factored too heavily into the decision.
But what happens over the course of the next fortnight or so, as Ferguson comes up against Hibs and Aberdeen in the league as well as a Europa League quarter final double header against Athletic Bilbao might determine the true nature of the conversation which is about to take place.