AS he took his seat in the media room at Celtic Park following his side’s dramatic victory on Sunday, Barry Ferguson’s name was still being chanted with gusto by the jubilant Rangers supporters who were still present in a corner of the ground. Having presided over a first win for his club in Glasgow’s East End for five years, it was hard to think of a more opportune moment for an interim manager to stake a claim for taking a job on a permanent basis. Even before the question was inevitably asked and asked again, however, you knew there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of the former skipper outlining his credentials. As was the case at his first press conference at the end of last month, as has been the way of it before and after each match since, Ferguson cast aside the emotional pull of leading his boyhood heroes and stayed in the moment. Wild horses aren’t going to drag him down the road of what might happen next. While his private desire to make the arrangement permanent can be taken as read, there is truthfully little to be gained by him stating as much in public. This is determined by matters on and off the field. With Rangers on the verge of a takeover by an American consortium, there’s every chance that Ferguson would be putting himself forward for a vacancy that does not exist. When 49ers Enterprises completed their buy-out of Leeds United in 2023, their first act was to appoint Daniel Farke as manager. It’s entirely conceivable then, that Paraag Marathe, the Elland Road chairman who’s also part of the group which is set to take control at Ibrox, already has his own man in mind. It’s typically what happens when there’s a change of ownership. Ferguson is also acutely aware that he’s being judged on a game-by-game basis. Sunday was a huge feather in his cap but, if we know one thing about this Rangers team, it’s that they are wildly inconsistent. Already this season, they’ve lost at home to Queen’s Park, Motherwell and St Mirren yet have defeated Celtic, Fenerbahce and Nice away. It’s unfathomable, simply beyond all logic. They next play Dundee away after the international break. There is truly no outcome which would be surprising that day. Ferguson was entitled to savour the moment at the weekend, yet he was also right to view the result in the context of what had come before. His side only played for a half at Rugby Park and didn’t turn up at all against the Steelmen. They were outstanding in Turkey but didn’t hit the heights in the return leg before holding their nerve on penalties. From one game to the next, you don’t know what you are getting. Amid the euphoria of prevailing against Celtic, the man at the helm won’t have forgotten any of that. Yet, you can still understand the growing sense of belief many fans have in him. Back in September, Rangers turned in an excuse for a performance as they were swept away 3-0 at Parkhead. As Philippe Clement babbled incoherently about shots on target, irate supporters gathered at the ground to make their feelings plain. The performance and the emotion at the weekend were a million miles away from that day. Ferguson deserves no little credit for his part in that. The idea that the panacea to the club’s many ills was simply to appoint a raft of ex-players was subjected to much scorn, yet the commitment and character Rangers exuded at Parkhead suggested it can take you a long way. Yet there was more to admire about the visitors’ performance than a willingness to make blocks and tackles and to run until your legs could give no more. As against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce, Ferguson got his tactics spot on. Those believing that a 5-4-1 shape signalled an intention to batten done the hatches and hit on the break against Celtic were again mistaken. Rangers pressed Celtic high up the field believing Brendan Rodgers’ side would make elementary errors. This faith was wholly justified. With a narrow four-man midfield screening the defence, Ferguson’s players worked like dervishes to close space and shut off passing lines. The extra body at the back ensured Celtic’s front three struggled to make inroads. Nicolas Kuhn’s substitution at half-time said much. The only certainty in the second half was that Celtic would improve simply because they could not possibly be worse. While the injury-enforced absence of Callum McGregor was indisputably a factor in a display devoid of speed, fluency and game-intelligence, that alone could not fully account for a truly desperate show. With Rangers beginning to feel the effects of their 120 minutes against the Turks, an improved Celtic side got one back through Daizen Maeda then equalised with 16 minutes remaining when Reo Hatate struck. Rodgers, with just two defeats in 21 previous derbies, would have fancied his chances of seeing the job completed, but Rangers under Ferguson found something in the most trying moments to come again late in and snatch a famous victory through Hamza Igamane. While the poverty of Celtic’s performance in a second successive derby was startling, you had to hand it to the interim boss. He got everything right on the day. The displays of Nicolas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande, the scorers of the opening goals, were brimming with the kind of intensity he would have demanded. Three days after seeing off the Special One, this was another big result for him to savour, one on the eye for those who questioned the wisdom of throwing him the keys until the end of the season. If he clears his desk tomorrow, he’ll do so knowing he accomplished something that was beyond the powers of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Clement. In recent years, as Celtic have continued to dominate Scottish football, Rangers’ wins at Parkhead have been as rare as hen’s teeth. In changing that narrative, it’s inconceivable that Ferguson won’t have at least given the club’s prospective owners something to chew over. If Sunday’s win doesn’t already place him in contention to get the gig long-term then what’s still required? Rangers were 13 points behind Celtic at the point where Ferguson came in. With eight games to go, that remains the size of the gap. A win in the final derby at Ibrox after the split isn’t going to prevent Celtic from wrapping up a 13th title in 14 years although a single-figure deficit could suggest a shift in momentum. The Europa League quarter-final against Athletic Bilbao feels more likely to define Ferguson’s tenure and dictate whether he remains in situ beyond the current campaign. He indulged in a little hyperbole when he claimed Fenerbahce were a significant upgrade on any side Rangers had faced in the tournament to date, but the men from the Basque Country are certainly worthy of that accolade. Their weekend win at Sevilla ballasted their fourth-placed position in La Liga. Boasting the awesome talent of Nico Williams, Ernesto Valverde’s side fully expect to be competing in the final which their San Mames Stadium will host on May 21. If Ferguson rips up that script to ensure the Light Blue legions descend on the city for the second time in as many months, those questions pertaining to his future at Rangers surely won’t be necessary.