Barry Ferguson taken aback by Rangers that cannae be true stat bomb about McGregor, McCann, Dodds and himself

Barry Ferguson was happy living the easy life.

A cushdy job acting as a club ambassador at Ibrox, some part-time work writing his Record Sport column, a couple of shifts on the wireless — it all added up to a stress-free existence for the former Rangers skipper. Well, that’s all gone now he’s been named caretaker boss at his old club … as the bags under the 47-year-old’s eyes will testify.

By stepping into fill the manager’s post on an interim basis, Ferguson knows he’s walking back into the world of pressure, strain and scrutiny he left behind when he walked out of Ibrox to join Birmingham 16 years ago. No wonder he's already he's already starting to show the wearing effects. It’s now his job to drag a team that has hit rock bottom off its knees and attempt to reestablish some kind of self-respect at Ibrox from a season verging on the mortifying.

Fergie returned to the club’s Auchenhowie training base late on Monday afternoon, just a few hours after Philippe Clement checked out following some final goodbyes. The ex-captain and his new team of iconic assistants - Allan McGregor, Neil McCann and Billy Dodds - didn’t leave themselves until after 2am as they began piecing together a game plan for this evening’s Rugby Park showdown with another of their old team-mates, Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes.

Some would say he’s crazy to take the job on, especially given he himself admits he’d all but given up on a return to management after an ill-fated spell in charge of League One Alloa ended in resignation this time three years ago. But then they should know by now that when Rangers call, Ferguson will always come running.

Looking back over a remarkable 48 hours, he said: “I've not had much sleep, as you can see with my eyes. But