On what was a night of farewells at Ibrox, Rangers roused themselves from their end-of-season slumber to give Barry Ferguson the parting gift of three points and a victory over Dundee United.
This will surely be the last time that Ferguson takes charge of Rangers in front of the club’s own supporters before a new manager is appointed in the summer once the takeover is completed.
Despite the fact he is unlikely to be offered the job long-term, Ferguson can bow out on the back of successive home victories following the 4-0 hammering of Aberdeen last weekend.
Towards the end, despite the fact the stadium was half-empty, Ferguson’s name rung out as fans sounded their appreciation for the job he has done in difficult circumstances.
Once the full-time whistle had sounded, he and his backroom staff – Billy Dodds, Neil McCann and Allan McGregor – walked together around the pitch to applaud the supporters.
But they weren’t the only ones who were probably saying their goodbyes to the Ibrox crowd. Several of these players are likely to move on to pastures new come the summer.
Nicolas Raskin scored Rangers’ third and final goal to secure victory over United
Cyriel Dessers grabbed a brace on the night, the second from the penalty spot
Striker Dessers has now scored 50 goals in two seasons for the struggling Ibrox club
Vaclav Cerny, one of the club’s best players this season, looked slightly emotional when he was subbed off and left the field with 10 minutes to play.
Pausing and taking his time to applaud all four sides of the stadium, it was a clear indication that Cerny probably won’t return from Wolfsburg next season.
What the future holds for several more of this squad is anyone’s guess. But with Andrew Cavenagh once again watching from the stands, this squad is likely to be unrecognisable in a few months’ time.
What to do with Cyriel Dessers will be one of the key questions facing the new manager and owners once they take charge.
Much-maligned across his two seasons in Glasgow, Dessers scored twice last night and now has 50 goals for Rangers.
Ferguson chose to recall Jack Butland in goal. After an error-strewn season, the English goalkeeper had been dropped after the 2-0 home defeat to Hibs a month ago.
Hamza Igamane was also brought in to start on the back of his impressive display off the bench against Aberdeen last Sunday, where he scored the best goal of the game in a 4-0 rout.
United, meanwhile, arrived in Glasgow seeking to bounce back from a 2-0 loss home defeat to St Mirren at the weekend, a third successive defeat which seriously dented their chances of third place.
Dave Richards came in to make his first league start in goal this season as boss Jim Goodwin made four changes in total to the United team.
As was the case against Aberdeen just a few days earlier, the number of empty seats around Ibrox was really quite striking as kick-off approached.
It had strong vibes of the Scotland national team around 2019, when barely 20,000 fans were turning up at Hampden for games against Kazakhstan and San Marino.
Mind you, nobody would blame Rangers fans for losing interest and being so disillusioned at what they have witnessed this season.
The game started as the sun dipped over the top of the Broomloan Stand, with Rangers knocking the ball around with a decent tempo in the early stages.
Igamane flashed a header wide of the target from a James Tavernier cross on 14 minutes, but it was United who took the lead shortly after.
Butland had spread himself well to make a good initial save from Sam Dalby, but Rangers were punished from the resultant corner.
After Ryan Strain had swung the ball in, Sam Cleall-Harding rose above everyone to glance a powerful header into the top corner.
It was woeful defending from Rangers from a set-piece, with young United centre-back Cleall-Harding essentially rising unchallenged in the middle of the box.
But United’s lead wouldn’t last long as Rangers restored parity thanks to Dessers scoring his fourth goal in as many games.
Jefte swung in an inviting cross from the left and Dessers rose to plant a header beyond Richards for his 27th goal of the campaign.
It was fairly even for the rest of the first half, with Mohamed Diomande flashing a shot just wide of the target in the moments before the break.
Diomande was probably the brightest spark in the Rangers midfield and again went close in the early stages of the second half after another driving run forward.
Barry Ferguson took the acclaim of the Rangers supporters at the end of the game
United carried a decent enough threat on the counter but they were struggling to find a way of troubling Butland.
As the second half wore on, Rangers looked totally devoid of ideas and creativity in the final third, with Ferguson looking towards his bench.
But, as the likes of Danilo and Oscar Cortes warmed up on the touchline, it has long been obvious over recent weeks that Ferguson just doesn’t rate them or believe in them.
Tom Lawrence and Nedim Bajrami were two other options, but neither of them can claim to have enjoyed a particularly stellar season.
Dessers screamed for a penalty when he tangled with Declan Gallagher, as did Diomande when he was felled by Vicko Sevelj on 73 minutes.
Referee Calum Scott initially waved away both appeals, only to be referred to the VAR monitor for the foul on Diomande.
After awarding the spot-kick, Dessers stepped up and sent Richards the wrong way to notch his 50th goal for Rangers since joining the club two years ago.
Just two minutes later, Rangers sealed the victory when Nico Raskin burst forward from midfield and scored the best goal of the game.
Cerny cleverly delayed his pass from the left and found Raskin inside on the underlap, the Belgian midfielder rifling the ball high into the net past Richards for 3-1 to wrap it all up.
United now go into the final day of the season knowing they need to beat Aberdeen to secure European football.
