When you remove emotion and sentiment from the equation, there should be no prospect whatsoever of Barry Ferguson still being the Rangers manager at the start of next season.
Nothing that happens in Thursday night’s Europa League quarter-final with Athletic Bilbao should change that. Not even a Rangers victory.
Why? Because even if the Ibrox side were to cause a seismic upset at the San Mames, Ferguson’s credentials for the job can’t be viewed purely through the prism of a couple of games in Europe.
Clubs can often get themselves into a mess with this stuff. A domestic campaign is written off as a disaster, a manager is sacked, and an interim figure – often a club legend – comes in and picks up the pieces.
The mood around the place improves almost instantly. Suddenly there’s a feeling of optimism again. Fans are back onside. Momentum builds.
Europe is a welcome escape, and it becomes easy to fixate on the narrative that results in continental competition should determine the interim manager’s chances of landing the gig long-term.
Ferguson can’t be given the top job for next season if club are serious about moving forward
The former Rangers star has done little to arrest the sense of bedlam around the club
Ferguson should be seen as a caretaker and a stop-gap and nothing more by the club
Probably the most high-profile example would be Roberto Di Matteo when he took the reins at Chelsea in 2012 after the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas.
In the space of little over two months, Di Matteo led Chelsea to a double by winning the FA Cup and the Champions League.
They *had* to give him the job, didn’t they? They were handcuffed to Di Matteo as soon as Chelsea had beaten Bayern Munich on penalties at the Allianz Arena.
The fact that Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League, winning only five of their 11 games under his stewardship? A minor detail.
The fact that his managerial CV amounted to two fairly short stints at MK Dons and West Brom? Again, no matter. He was handed a two-year deal at Stamford Bridge.
After the initial bounce had fallen flat and reality had set in, Di Matteo was sacked in November of the following season following a run of two wins in eight games and elimination from the Champions League.
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stepped in to replace Jose Mourinho at Manchester United in late 2018, victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League saw the Norwegian handed a three-year deal at Old Trafford.
He lasted a bit longer than Di Matteo, ploughing on for another couple of years before United finally put him out of his misery despite it long being evident that he wasn’t the right man for the job.
Ferguson has shown a lot of emotion on sidelines, but is that enough for a club like Rangers?
Ferguson could secure a win in Bilbao but that should not guarantee him the job full-time
Rangers have done in well in Europe, and that has been continued under Ferguson’s watch
However, the interim manager’s team continue to under-perform in the domestic game
That’s the crossroads at which Rangers could find themselves with Ferguson. If he were to mastermind a victory over Bilbao and reach the semi-finals, talk of him being given the job full-time would reignite and intensify.
However, if Rangers are serious about making a fresh start in the summer and moving forward, all talk of Ferguson as manager must be resisted. He’s a caretaker. A stop-gap, nothing more.
The fact that some fans still seem willing to entertain the idea of him being the long-term answer as manager is ludicrous enough in itself.
Ferguson hasn’t even won a game at Ibrox yet. In four matches at their home stadium under his command, Rangers have recorded three defeats and a draw.
Under Ferguson, they exist in a state of chaos. It has become the norm for them to gift opponents a two-goal lead, doing so seven times in their last 10 matches in a run which stretches back to Philippe Clement’s time in charge.
The interim boss has done nothing to arrest the sense of bedlam. In his nine matches at the helm, Rangers have fallen 2-0 behind on six occasions.
Sometimes they can muster enough spirit to mount a fightback, as they did against Aberdeen at Pittodrie last Sunday. Other times, such as in the defeats to Hibs, Motherwell and Fenerbahce, they sink without a trace.
If they gift Bilbao a two-goal start tomorrow night, it will be the latter of those two outcomes against a team who currently sit fourth in La Liga.
Listen, the blame for such defensive frailties doesn’t lie entirely at the door of Ferguson. He inherited an absolute shambles from Clement and is doing all he can to make the best of a bad situation.
For instance, it wasn’t Ferguson who instructed the club to sign Robin Propper last summer. With the Dutch centre-back suspended following his red card last week, Rangers’ chances of progression are boosted.
John Souttar and Mohamed Diomande will also be back in the team, two players who missed last week’s first leg in Glasgow which saw the Basques dominate but ultimately be denied by a late Liam Kelly penalty save.
The expectation is that Ernesto Valverde’s side won’t be denied a second time. With the final set to be held in Bilbao’s stadium in May, they are favourites to go all the way.
If Rangers were to upset the odds and knock them out, it would rank as just a big a shock as when Valverde’s Barcelona side blew a three-goal lead at Anfield in a Champions League tie in 2019.
It still wouldn’t alter the fact that Ferguson cannot possibly be given the job next season if the club are serious about moving forward.
The prospective new US owners, if and when the takeover deal is completed, cannot be seduced and suckered in by the emotion and sentiment of whatever Ferguson does in Europe.
Rangers need calm heads and a clear vision of how to move forward. Ferguson’s main policy of shouting at his players in the hope of provoking a reaction will only last for so long.
Realistically, the best hope for Ferguson is that Rangers go out on their swords, give a decent account of themselves, and then finish the league as strongly as possible.
Beating Celtic for a second time when they visit Ibrox on May 4 would then be top of his agenda. If he can do that, he could walk away with his head held high.
But any notion of him still occupying the manager’s seat come the start of next season is for the birds. Regardless of what happens in Bilbao and beyond.
Masters glory elevated Rory to a league of his own
Of all his near misses in majors over the past few years, none would have stung quite so badly had Rory McIlroy blown it at Augusta on Sunday night.
It looked like he had thrown the tournament away three times over, only to then win it back again. It was brilliant, unrelenting drama right to the very end.
Knowing the career Grand Slam was on the line, as well as finally ending his 11-year drought in the majors, McIlroy flirted with total oblivion.
Had it slipped away, a loss of such catastrophic proportions would have made it difficult to ever again envisage him winning another major.
Instead, reborn and revitalised, the floodgates could now open for McIlroy. Don’t be surprised if he wins another one – at the very least – before the end of the year.
He will tee it up as red-hot favourite in next month’s US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, a venue he knows like the back of his hand having won there four times previously.
The magical moment when McIlroy won the Masters, and opened the door to win more majors
The Open Championship will be held at Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland. Despite a poor showing there in 2019, it’s still a course where McIlroy could shoot 65 with his eyes closed.
Victory at The Masters has elevated him into a league of his own. He now sits above Sir Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros as Europe’s greatest ever golfer.
Faldo still sits one ahead with six majors in comparison to the five won by both McIlroy and Seve.
But, having finally conquered his demons to get over the line again, Rory could blow that total out of the water these next few years.
When he’s on top form, he remains the best player on the planet. Rory’s A-game beats everyone else. It’s really that simple.
Hearts boss Critchley looks to be living on borrowed time
Pressure is mounting on Hearts boss Neil Critchley after the club’s failure to secure a place in the top six of this season’s Premiership table.
Critchley was jeered by some sections of the Hearts support after last week’s 0-0 draw at Motherwell consigned the Gorgie side to a bottom-half finish.
Prior to the match, he had spoken about how the players apparently deserved credit for being in the fight for the top six.
Critchley needs to beat Aberdeen in Scottish Cup or time will begin to run out for him
If ever a statement could demonstrate how a manager fails to understand the size of the club that employs him, it was surely that.
Since taking over from Steven Naismith back in October, Critchley has shown precious little to suggest that he’s moving Hearts forward.
He is now under huge pressure heading into the Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden on Saturday.
Time is running out for him to turn things around.
At this moment, you wouldn’t bet much on him still being there at the start of next season.
