Former Rangers skipper, Barry Ferguson has revealed what really went on when he was interviewed to be one of Pedro Caixinha’s assistants when the Portuguese gaffer first took charge.
Speaking on Open Goal and reported by The Daily Record, Fergie was responding to Andy Halliday questioning him about a rumour that had been circulating around the dressing room at Auchenhowie at the time.
Halliday is a regular on the podcast and he posed the question to his boyhood hero:
“What you said to him, that did the rounds in the dressing room. Everyone was loving it.
“Apparently he said to you ‘where do you see yourself in five years’ and you said ‘sitting in your seat’.
“Everybody loved it. Wait five years? What about five weeks?”
To which Ferguson replied:
“That’s right, that was at the end of the meeting,”
“He was asking about the Scottish game and I start talking about Pittodrie, Tynecastle, Easter Road, Fir Park. Horrible places to go.
“You’ve got to change. Sometimes you’ve got to roll your sleeves up and win the battle. He’s looking at me and says ‘no I play this way and this way only’.
“I said it’s not going to operate, that’s not going to work at Rangers, and he just looked at me and I thought I’ve got no chance of this job.
“I’m glad I never got it because you see if I did get it I’d have probably been sacked after three or four weeks. The guy never got what Rangers is all about.”
Caixinha wanted to appoint someone who knew the club and the league but obviously disagreed with Ferguson’s mentality when it came to Scottish football, deciding instead to appoint Jonatan Johansson – although not as steeped in Rangers history, he did persuade Pedro to bring Alfredo Morelos to the club.
It was no secret that the former captain wanted to return to the club in a coaching capacity having already held jobs at Blackpool and Clyde, currently, he has taken a step back to work with Kelty Hearts and he has previously spoken about how his life has greater balance now that he is only working at a part-time club, however, he still harbours ambitions to work his way back to the top.
Would Fergie have been a decent Rangers boss?
Yes
No
Imagine what would have happened if he had been successful in his application, it’s not entirely in the realms of fantasy to imagine that he would have been given the nod to succeed Caixinha when his disastrous reign came to a premature end – it might not have guaranteed success, but it certainly would have been interesting.