Barry’s Ferguson’s Ibrox return might play well to the true blue brigade, but it does nothing to dispel the notion that Patrick Stewart is just another nodding dog at Rangers, writes Gary Keown

In a way, the silliness, the Vaudeville, of giving Barry Ferguson the manager’s job and letting him bring in his pals for a few months is a most apposite end to the reign of those currently in charge at Ibrox.

One last perplexing decision. One last act of playing to the gallery. One last reprise of ‘pyoor Ranjurz men thegither fur auld time’s sake anawrat’ before these Americans with their data and recruitment plans and business heads come in and start trying to run the place properly.

A final charge into battle behind Baz’s Big Orange – or should that be tangerine? – Monster Truck that appeared at Auchenhowie during the week before the days of Pedro Caixinha’s dogs and caravans, Graeme Murty’s headstands, Ibrox being shut for the start of the season, building a player-trading model around letting your biggest assets leave for nothing and Philippe Clement going on about shots at goal when you’ve been knocked out of the cup by Queen’s Park can be put to bed for good.

Fair enough. It’s only temporary. It’s a bit of light relief, really. Despite yesterday’s return to earth at home to Motherwell, Rangers punters seemed to enjoy the comeback win at Kilmarnock in Ferguson’s first game, even though it could have been 4-0 to the home side within half-an-hour.

And who can grudge them a bit of fun, a bit of all-our-yesterdays, after everything they’ve been put through in recent times?

It’s just that you wonder where the whole carry-on leaves CEO Patrick Stewart. Painted as the bloke who had a firm hand on the tiller, the hot-shot making all the big decisions from here on in, when he first arrived in December, monitoring his direction of travel has been like trying to keep an eye on an empty poke of Monster Munch in a wind tunnel.

The Ibrox icon was all smiles earlier in the week when he was announced as interim manager

Tom Sparrow fired in Motherwell’s second as the Ibrox men endured more home heartache

He’s been all over the shop. And right now, it is still hard to see Rangers as a serious football club under his charge.

Speaking to those with some insight into the intentions of the US consortium in talks to take a controlling share, the plan at the moment seems to be for Stewart and recently installed chairman Fraser Thornton to stay in position when the deal is done.

And there is worth in that thinking. Some degree of continuity will be required and you can hardly ask anyone else in the powerbase, the ones who have spent years constructing the ace operation that can still turn almost £100million in revenue into a £17.2m loss (with more to come), for their help going forward.

It’s just that Stewart has been showing little to suggest he is the strong leader everyone said he was and that Rangers most definitely needed.

His first act was to announce a strategic review of the footballing department with the help of American consultants. That was seven weeks ago and there’s been very little since other than the admission a sporting director is probably required.

His second was to throw his weight full-square behind Clement. Binning him was the easy option, he said. There was much more to be addressed at the club other than the manager. A new assistant boss in Issame Charai was brought in — no doubt at some cost — during January.

Even after the cup loss to Queen’s Park, Stewart was adamant that Clement had to stay in position.

‘Look, I’m going to go back to what I said in January,’ he told official club media. ‘We have been underperforming as a club for several seasons now and that’s not down to a manager.

Rangers chief executive officer Patrick Stewart has made a number of mis-steps so far

Neil McCann has joined Ferguson’s set-up but it remains to be seen what impact the ‘old boys’ can make

‘What I’m doing now is I’m looking at the root causes of that and, until we sort those root causes, it’s akin to trying to fix a broken house and starting with the ceiling instead of starting with the root foundation.

‘For all the Queen’s Park result was disastrous, I think we do also have to give credit to Philippe and the team for the Europa League run. Four of the top eight we played against and we finished in the top eight. They deserve real credit for that. And I don’t want to take a step that would put further progress in the Europa League at risk.’

Well, the Europa League is now upon us. Clement has gone after a league defeat at home to St Mirren. And Rangers now have a fellow going up against Jose Mourinho and Fenerbahce on Thursday night who has never managed anywhere remotely close to top-flight level and hasn’t been involved at all in the game for three years.

Club legend or not, that’s the reality of it. Ferguson couldn’t get Clyde out of League Two. He went to Kelty Hearts when they were in the Lowland League and *did* get them into the SPFL before leaving for Alloa for an ill-fated spell that saw him leave following two wins in 15 games with the Wasps eighth in League One.

That was in February 2022. Now, all of a sudden, he is catapulted into the Rangers job. Listen, Ferguson was deadly serious about his coaching career. I remember going to interview him at Clyde in his early days and being deeply impressed by his humility, his insistence that he wanted to learn the ropes out of the spotlight, learn his trade, build a whole new reputation separate from his considerable legacy as a player.

Sadly, it just didn’t work out the way he wanted. He does have guys with notable experience beside him in Neil McCann and Billy Dodds — although what Allan McGregor is doing on the coaching team is anyone’s guess — but there is just no fathoming out why someone with that CV is seen as the answer to get the club through a last-16 tie in UEFA competition.

And here’s the rub. Stewart walked into a binfire and it is easy to see why he wants time to get his head around what he inherited and what is around the corner with this proposed American takeover, but it is impossible to see the appointment of Ferguson — the whole business of getting rid of Clement and bringing in the Old Boys’ Club, returning to the old obsession with former players and employees — as his decision.

Rangers players were forced to face their furious followers after a third straight home defeat

Yes, it is tough to get someone in for a matter of months as an interim. And Ferguson and co would maybe have been OK — a move to end the toxicity around the stadium and bring some punters back onside — if there was nothing to play for over the remainder of the season. If it was just a case of getting the domestic campaign completed without any further animosity or damage.

As it is, it feels like Rangers have just sacrificed Europe at the altar of stopping the mad squad from accosting people on the cobbles outside Ibrox or staging protests. And that isn’t right. Managing Rangers in Europe remains an incredible shop window for someone out of work. Was there really no one with pedigree available or interested?

If it was Stewart’s call to bullet Clement and bring in Ferguson, it makes no sense, given the sentiments he expressed just days before the St Mirren defeat. If it wasn’t his call, and an order from above, it makes him look like a nodding dog. A marginally more interesting Stewart Robertson.

Either way, it doesn’t inspire confidence ahead of the biggest game of the season.

Ferguson, of course, is welcome to prove us naysayers wrong over these two legs against The Special One. Seeing Rangers progress in Europe would be wonderful.

However, looking towards the longer-term, the events of the past week have left Stewart with an even greater need to prove that he is more than just another corporate yes-man — some suit who changes with the direction of the breeze — further up the tree.

A brief step in right direction for Old Firm

Thank the Lord a spot of commonsense has broken out between the Old Firm with both clubs having struck a deal to deliver away allocations of four per cent ahead of the final two derbies of the season.

Rival managers Brendan Rodgers and Barry Ferguson said it all on Friday. It’s a good start and let’s hope it can somehow pave the way for the numbers of travelling supporters for these matches to return to the days of old.

The fixture has been diluted and demeaned in recent years thanks to the stand-off over letting away punters through the door. No matter who was to blame for past problems, it is unthinkable that the derby can go back to staging lock-outs.

Rangers’ prospective new American owners must know this. The game is less of a spectacle without away fans. Less of a draw. Thunderous atmospheres, rivalry and the smell of cordite in the air are all part of what has built the reputation of the Old Firm game.

It’s what punters, managers and tourists all want. It is a big part of growing both brands. More than anything else, though, it is in keeping with the spirit of football. And in this day and age of everything changing and money running the show, holding onto that is absolutely vital.

The return of away fans attending Old Firm matches is a necessary development for the game

Bowie has the attributes to make cap push

There is all sorts to get in a lather about in today’s mouthwatering Edinburgh derby.

Having recovered from grim starts to the season, both teams should be aiming for third in the table. David Gray, who deserves huge credit after looking like a dead man walking at one point, and Neil Critchley are now building real momentum and will want to keep it that way.

One lesser-regarded element to keep an eye on, though, is the steady return of home striker Kieron Bowie from a hamstring injury suffered with Scotland Under-21s last September.

Kieron Bowie has endured a frustrating start to life at Hibs, but clearly has huge potential

A £600,000 signing from Fulham last summer, he scored a belter off the bench at Dundee United in midweek to snatch the points and showed up really well in the win over Celtic last weekend before running out of legs.

Tall, physical and possessing good movement, the 22-year-old should be looking towards completing the season strongly and getting into the mix for the Scotland senior team in time for the World Cup qualifiers in September.

Che Evans is clearly the No 1 striker for Steve Clarke with Tommy Conway doing fine at Middlesbrough, but a third spot is surely up for grabs with Hearts skipper Lawrence Shankland looking a shadow of his old self, Lyndon Dykes playing League One in England and Kevin Nisbet underwhelming at Aberdeen.

Bowie’s got a long way to go to step up to international level, but it should be a target for him. Making an impression in a hotly-anticipated blockbuster with Hearts would be a lovely way to announce his future intentions.