BARRY FERGUSON set high standards as a Rangers player — but one manager didn’t quite understand.
Now that my old team-mate is caretaker boss at Ibrox, the current squad would be foolish to make the same mistake.
Barry Ferguson has returned to Rangers as head coach for the rest of the season[/caption]
Kris Boyd knows what Ferguson is all about having been team mates at Ibrox[/caption]
Ferguson didn’t see eye-to-eye with Paul le Guen during the Frenchman’s Gers reign[/caption]
Paul le Guen was cut from the same cloth as Philippe Clement in that both men failed to learn and understand what was expected at the club.
Certainly not before it was too late.
In December 2006 the Frenchman took umbrage to what Barry had to say in the dressing room after we had just drawn 1-1 with Inverness Caley Thistle.
Le Guen had been praising the players for getting a point on the road. But our captain was having none of it — and he made his feelings known.
Within days of his outburst, Barry was being stripped of the captaincy and told he would never play for the club again.
Le Guen felt undermined and wanted to make an example of our best player.
A lot was going on at the club at the time. In many ways, it’s similar to what’s happening now in that results were nowhere near good enough — and the manager didn’t seem to get it.
Fans will remember, after I scored against Motherwell a few days later, I celebrated by holding up six fingers to the crowd.
It was my way of showing solidarity with my team-mate and captain.
Within days Le Guen was gone, Walter Smith was brought back, and everything changed overnight.
A manager was appointed who understood what was expected each and every time a Rangers team ran on to the park.
And that’s what they’ve now got again.
Barry may not have the top level experience that a lot of managers out there have — and there may be people surprised the club has decided to appoint him, even as an interim.
But they’re getting someone who gets it. Someone who knows what the club is all about.
And right now that’s a whole lot better than the guy who has just left the premises.
It’s not about lacing up the brown brogues and rocking up at Ibrox.
It’s about having a real appreciation of what’s demanded at a club of Rangers’ size.
Barry is a born winner who isn’t prepared to accept second best, regardless of who he’s up against.
I was there, in that dressing room, when he stood up for what he believed in 19 years ago. And I’d bet that if he was in that situation all over again he’d do exactly the same thing.
It wasn’t about him that day, it wasn’t about any individuals.
It was about the football club. It was about giving everything to represent the supporters who would have given their right arm to be wearing the jersey.
I’ve never been one to go along with the theory that Rangers simply need ‘Rangers men’ involved somewhere.
But at a time like this, Barry may just be precisely what’s required to give the place a lift.
Having guys like Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Allan McGregor alongside him is an extension of that. They’ve all won trophies at the club.
They’ve all experienced good times, and bad, at Rangers so they will be going in with their eyes wide open.
I remember Greegsy around that same time, when le Guen was playing Lionel Letizi ahead of him, and it looked like he’d have to move on.
But he knuckled down and proved him wrong and went on to become one of the club’s greatest-ever goalkeepers.
Neil and Doddsy have been managers at clubs too, so they’ll be more than capable of coaching the squad out on the grass along with Barry who also has coaching experience, let’s not forget.
This an appointment that can only make things better — it certainly can’t get much worse.
I’ve been saying it for months that Clement should have be shown the door.
And while I genuinely take no satisfaction from anyone losing their job, he really only had himself to blame.
He should have been bulleted after losing to Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup, if not before.
But when supporters are walking out of Ibrox after watching the team go 1-0 down to St Mirren early in the second-half, the writing is most definitely on the wall.
The club has now bought itself some valuable time to look around, assess what is out there and make a more long-term managerial appointment.
The likelihood is that search will be done in conjunction with the takeover.
But I’ll tell you one thing — Barry may only have been asked to take the team until the end of the season, but there’s no way in the world he’ll be thinking this is just a short-term thing.
Trust me on this, I can guarantee he’ll be thinking this is the opportunity he’s been waiting for.
He’s maybe not been involved in management for a number of years but he’ll still have that desire burning inside.
And the prospect of being Rangers manager will excite him.
He’ll take things one step at a time, sure. But he’ll know that he’s the man in the box seat and if things go well he could land the job on a permanent basis.
That’s how he thinks.
He didn’t step aside for anyone as a player and he’ll want to make it’s as difficult as possible for Rangers to appoint someone else.
Whether that happens, only time will tell.
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