Snipers of Barry Ferguson and his Rangers cynics clamped in impassioned appeal (2025)

Former team mate lifts lid on the caretaker's love for the club.

Lee McCulloch never doubted Barry Ferguson would steady the ship when asked to steer Rangers out of choppy waters.

Not when he’s been steeped in the club and its values since he first crossed the dressing room threshold as a five-year-old kid. Ferguson, of course, captained the side as they sailed to a stunning treble in 2003 under Alex McLeish as well as landing silverware for Walter Smith and Dick Advocaat across two spells on the south side of the Clyde.

But you have to go back four decades to the days when Jock Wallace was at the wheel to discover just how deep the connection between Ferguson and Rangers runs.

Back to the days where a wide-eyed kid would follow his big brother Derek into the sanctuary of the home dressing room and rub shoulders with his heroes while other kids could only dream of such magic.

McCulloch, speaking as he helped promote a boating club at Loch lomond, traces Ferguson’s love affair with the club back to those early days. It’s why he insists there’s nobody better to take the helm than the man he used to call skipper.

Nobody who can handle the demand, the pressure and the privilege of managing the club - and cherish it too. McCulloch has heard the arguments that Ferguson’s CV isn’t up to scratch as he’s only managed part time Alloa, Kelty Hearts and Clyde before returning to Ibrox as caretaker last month. But an Old Firm win in enemy territory and getting one over Jose Mourinho in Europe quickly put that accusation to bed.

And McCulloch said: “That's been completely overplayed. When you look at the managers he's worked with, you look at some of the players he's played with, and captained, you can only learn from these guys and that's why he's doing so well.

“He knows the club inside out. You'll get a lot of people saying there's different ex-players that know the club, but he's been there since he was four or five years old.

“Going into the dressing room and going round about the club. He's known the club since he was a young, young boy when his brother was playing, so he's been steeped in the club's tradition and history for all his life.

“And now I see him with a chance to portray that onto a squad. I think he looks the part, sounds the part, and the results, which is the most important thing, have been there.

“He’s a treble winning captain. There probably isn’t a better guy you could have picked at that moment in time to go and lead the way. I think he's got a lot of credit in the bank now.”

It’s another entry in football’s ever-expanding book of cliches but McCulloch says the fact that Ferguson “knows the club” really does matter. That’s simply due to the size of Rangers, which he reckons can catch out coaches who might not have the same grasp on Scottish football.

Philippe Clement appeared to be swallowed up and spat out by the sheer scale of the demands. And the Belgian’s pedigree stacked up against many on the continent having come from winning three titles in his homeland after a glittering career as a player.

McCulloch said: “Because it's such a special club you need to get it. You need to understand the fans' demands, you need to understand the fans' will to win, you need to understand the importance that it has in people's lives if you don't win, even if you draw and he gets it.

“That can be a surprise to those that don't know the club. It's Barry’s club, it's where he is just now and he probably won't know another club in the world better than what he knows Rangers. That's been the recipe for the success he and his staff have had.”

That staff - Billy Dodds, Neil McCann and Allan McGregor as well as Issame Charai - have been invaluable to Ferguson. He wasted no time assembling his backroom team before accepting the interim role.

And McCulloch reckons he played a masterstroke. Not just in knowledge but in personality too. He said: “Bundles of experience, Neil has been a manager, I've come up against him a few times myself, been an assistant manager, he's been a coach, he's thorough.

“So has Doddsy. He’s been a manager, assistant manager and has played with the club. Probably they are different from Barry's personality. And obviously you've got Allan McGregor in there who's played so many games for the club and probably one of, if not the best, goalies that potentially the club's ever had.

“So it's a good team, they're a close-knit group and four of them will be desperate to bring success to the club.”

Rangers return from the International break with a trip to face Dundee on Saturday evening. Dens was another venue where Clement slipped up, drawing 1-1 in January hot on the heels of a 3-3 draw at Hibs.

In total 25 points have been dropped against sides outwith Celtic - rendering the back-to-back Old Firm league wins meaningless in terms of the title race. And McCulloch said: “You watch it and you're like, ‘I don't know what just happened there’.

“They must really be kicking themselves after the Old Firm games. When you look at the points they have dropped domestically, the gap wouldn't be anywhere near as big.”

* Lee McCulloch is pictured promoting Freedom Boat Club at their stunning Loch Lomond base. Monthly boating memberships start at £149 and can be used at more than 400 locations worldwide. Corporate Packages are also available. For more information visit www.fbclomond.co.uk, email info@fbclomond.co.uk or call 07772994982.