Barry Ferguson: Managerial uncertainty creates 'sticky situation' at Rangers

Barry Ferguson believes the uncertainty over the managerial position at Rangers has created “a sticky situation”, especially for players considering their futures.

Ferguson was brought in on a short-term basis after Philippe Clement’s sacking, tasked with bringing stability to the team and guiding them to the end of the season.

That leaves just over a week until the three remaining games have been played, and the former Rangers captain doesn’t know what will happen beyond that.

The impending takeover by the American consortium headed up by Andrew Cavanagh and the 49ers investment arm isn’t expected to be completed until mid-June. Ferguson feels that the wait for any clarity affects everyone.

“There’s obviously a number of players who are going to be out of contract, and you’ve got to be wary of the fact and respectful of the fact that these guys want to know the situation going forward,” he said.

“In terms of the guys who are going to be out of contract, no I haven’t had any involvement in what I would do or what the players are going to do.

“It’s a bit of a sticky situation, if I’m honest with you.

“I just need to be as professional as I can and focus on preparing the team for the last week of the season.

“There has to be a decision as quickly as possible. We just need to wait and see.

“Everybody is in the same mindframe as myself. They just want to know what’s going to be happening going forward.”

Ferguson has already made it clear that he believes there has to be a huge turnover in a squad that failed to win any domestic silverware this season and will finish a distant second in the Premiership.

He says the work for next season has to start quickly if Rangers are to be ready for the new campaign, with the crucial Champions League qualifiers just over two months away.

“There’s been a couple of changes made and there needs to be another few changes in terms of who the manager is, who is going to be staying, who is going to be going, and signing coming in,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done.

“Is it the 21^st or 22^nd of July that’s the first qualifying game for the Champions League? That’s just around the corner.”

There is also the matter of Ferguson’s own future to be settled. He has said he knows he could do the job and wouldn’t be scared of accepting it on a permanent basis, he is in the dark about whether he might be asked to stay on.

“I’m not going to go and cry in a corner,” he said. “I need to be as professional as possible in making sure that I do my job to the best of my ability.”

He is now preparing the team for their home match against Aberdeen on Sunday and hoping for a first victory in charge at Ibrox.

“Seven games (without a win at Ibrox) has been far too long. Two of them I wasn’t involved in, in terms of Queen’s Park and St Mirren.

“I look at the other five games – Fenerbahce, Celtic, Bilbao are quality teams. They’ve got some very good players.

“The ones that kind of frustrate me and annoy me is the Hibs and Motherwell games, where the performances were well below what’s expected.

“So we understand, I understand, the players now understand what we have to do on Sunday. We have to get that first win.”