What Barry Ferguson really thinks about his Rangers manager chances as board told Perfect One is under their nose

Former Ibrox star Steven Naismith has already seen enough to be convinced the caretaker is capable of taking the reigns for good

Jose Mourinho might be the Special One – but Steven Naismith is convinced Barry Ferguson is the Perfect One for Rangers.

The Ibrox caretaker boss will pit his wits against one of the all-time greats in Istanbul on Thursday. There are plenty of people who would have Mourinho ticking every single box when it comes to what you want from a manager. But as far as Naismith is concerned, his old Gers teammate has the ideal identikit for the top job at Ibrox.

Ferguson will have his work cut out against Fenerbahce this week in the Europa League, with Celtic awaiting at Parkhead on the back of the two ties. But Naismith has already seen enough to be persuaded his former club should be seriously considering hanging the fans’ favourite the gig on a permanent basis. And he’s sure Ferguson will be thinking exactly the same.

Naismith landed in a similar position at Hearts, when he was thrust into a caretaker role after Robbie Neilson was sacked in 2023. The former striker did such a good job steadying the ship he landed the position on a permanent basis – and led the Jambos to a third place finish and European football in his first full season in charge. Ferguson has a huge task on his hand getting Rangers back on track – as was proved in Saturday’s miserable defeat to Motherwell.

But Naismith insisted the Ibrox hall of famer has what it takes to make the job his own. He said: “I think Barry will be saying, I've got nothing to lose here, saying nobody gives me a chance.

“But his character, the way he was a player, he'll probably relish that opportunity to try to turn people's opinion and try to show that he has got value to be it. Because away from the tactics and the actual management experience, is there any better profile of a Rangers manager than the best thing that's come through the academy and the captain that's won so many trophies, to then move to be the manager?

“The profile's perfect. He just needs to show from now there that he's capable of doing it. I've noticed, in the short time Barry's been in charge of Rangers, the contrast from him as a coach at Clyde and Kelty to now is massive.

“So the learning he's obviously done over the years is massive. I've been really impressed with how he's conducted himself in the media. But also with the squad and the way he's been creative to try and get results.

“He's got the same squad, it's about getting the best out of them. The weekend 100 percent would have been a bit of a blow to him and a bit of a reality check.

“But I can totally understand it. He will be focusing on game to game. But there's definitely got to be something there where he’s thinking, ‘we'll see what happens.’

“I was similar when I was at Hearts. My name wasn't in the hat for day one, and I had to try and work my way into that position and I'm sure he'll be in the same mindset.”

Ferguson is only planning until the summer and plenty of critics will point to his lack of top flight managerial experience, and his struggles when in charge of clubs down the food chain. But Naismith believes the interim boss will actually find it easier at a higher level – even if the weekend slump to Motherwell was a major worry given the feelgood factor going in.

He said: “You don't know what's going on in the background, but I definitely believe that Barry Ferguson's got more in common with the Rangers squad than he does ever with the Clyde squad and the Kelty squad. He has got a wealth of experience, but you're never going to be good at anything unless you have a real passion and you have a real willingness to commit fully to it.

“They want to push on. The red flag will be the game against Motherwell. The game was set up to be brilliant. At the end of the Kilmarnock game, the fans were all singing Fergie’s name and everything's amazing.

“You couldn't be in a better place to be going into that home game. And for it to be as flat as it was, that's a red flag.”

Ferguson will be all in for Istanbul this week – and going up against one of the best in the business. Mourinho has brought his usual brand of controversy to Turkey but there’s still no doubting his genius in the technical area.

Naismith said: “I imagine it'll be a tasty atmosphere when they do go there. Mourinho will be sitting there rubbing his hands thinking he’s got a right chance of winning this tournament. His track record of winning two tournaments is fantastic.

“It's a real challenge but I think he'll take hope from the fact Europe has been that one positive for Rangers through the season.

“It suits the squad, it suits where they are. Having Celtic in the mix with these games is probably not ideal, but a lot of these times when the schedule's brutal and you potentially don't expect much from the outside, there's no real expectation, a lot of times it doesn't play out that way. I'm sure he and his staff will have a belief and they'll try to instil that in the squad.”

Steven Naismith was promoting Premier Sports’ live and exclusive coverage of Hearts v Dundee on Friday from 7.15pm on Premier Sports 1. Watch Premier Sports via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV, STV Player and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription, and on the Premier Sports’ streaming platform.