Goodbye Go Radio, hello Jose Mourinho. The Barry Ferguson guide to career advancement should be made available in every job advice centre in the country. On the face of it, it shows where perseverance can get you. On the other hand, it’s perhaps not such an inspiring tale for these times. Instead, it simply underlines the importance of who you know. Rather than extending a slightly awkward welcome to Philippe Clement, who as recently as Friday delivered a very cool assessment of The Special One’s tactical outlook, Mourinho will be shaking the hand of Ferguson ahead of the first leg of next week’s Europa League last 16 clash against Fenerbahce. From the Indodrill stadium to Istanbul, via a stint working as a pundit for a commercial radio station based in Glasgow. Ferguson’s recruitment demonstrates the power of the old club tie and highlights where Rangers are at present, although even fans are questioning whether this is what they need and even want. The accusation that Rangers are simply playing to the gallery is rendered redundant when one considers that even this gallery appears unconvinced, to put it mildly. Remember Boozegate? Some might suggest this is the equivalent of the Rangers board giving two fingers to the support. The final, conclusive proof that Rangers are, to slightly misquote Brian Cox’s Logan Roy character in the TV drama Succession, not a serious club. They are now appointing managers, albeit interim, on availability grounds together with the fact they live nearby and know the words to Ibroxonia. Haven’t delivered a team talk in earnest since a home 3-1 defeat for Alloa Athletic against East Fife three years ago? Not a problem. Ferguson will of course be assisted in his duties by Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Allan McGregor, with Issame Charai remaining in situ more out of financial expediency than anything else it seems. Having been brought in on a three-and-a-half-year contract as recently as last month, severing ties with Clement’s erstwhile assistant would have been an unnecessary additional expense. Hence, the Belgian-Moroccan has been invited to join the so-called gang of four. Who’d have thought that when McGregor replaced Stefan Klos in the second half of a 6-0 Scottish Cup win over Forfar Athletic at Station Park, the debutant would be joining three teammates on the park with whom he’d eventually form an Ibrox management team. This match in Angus in 2002 is now the answer to a pub quiz question: it was the only time McGregor, Ferguson, Dodds and McCann all played together in the same Rangers team. The poser might test the knowledge of even the staunchest Louden Tavern regular, which is to whom the critics say these appointments are designed to appeal given the disconnect evident on Saturday long before the end of the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren. It’s not an altogether fair assessment. McCann is a serious coach whose tactical acumen is regularly on display as a Sportscene pundit. He is an articulate, enthusiastic and very credible exemplar of a Rangers manager. Perhaps it might have made more sense had McCann been given the role of interim head coach with the others all answering to him. Dodds would likely have agreed to this arrangement given the fact he’s already worked with McCann, having been brought in to be his assistant at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. After McCann left following what was always intended to be a temporary spell as manager, he was put in sole charge. Dodds led the club to the final of the Scottish Cup in 2023, where they lost to Celtic. Like McCann, he’s done the hard yards as a coach going all the way back to 2008, when he was recruited initially as a strikers’ coach at Queen of the South by Gordon Chisholm. He ought to command respect on the training pitch. So, too, should Ferguson, for his achievements at Rangers alone, although it’s interesting to think what Walter Smith, whose statue was unveiled outside Ibrox late last season, would have to say about this development. He stripped Ferguson of the captaincy and placed him on the transfer list in 2009, following the aforementioned ‘Boozegate’ controversy. Ferguson stayed up late alongside McGregor (and others) after a 3-0 defeat to Holland and was dropped for the midweek clash against Iceland. Both players made V-gestures in front of photographers while sitting on the sidelines at Hampden, which brought repercussions at club level too. Ferguson only played three further times for Rangers before leaving in the summer to join Birmingham City. Ferguson has since spoken about his regret over the way it ended at his boyhood club and how he let himself and Smith down. He will no doubt touch upon these events again on Tuesday, when he hosts his first pre-match press conference as interim men’s head coach (to give him his full title) ahead of Wednesday’s clash at Rugby Park against Kilmarnock. A penny for Derek McInnes’s thoughts, with the current Kilmarnock manager so often cast as a Rangers manager-in-waiting. Although not nearly as experienced as McInnes for example, the 47-year-old Ferguson has already been a manager for over 250 matches. Some observers might conclude that there were few other options at this stage of the season. It was notable that sitting chatting alongside Dodds in the Ibrox media room on Saturday was Ian McCall, with the pair on duty for BBC Radio Scotland. McCall probably boasts better credentials than any of the new Ibrox management team and complies with the seemingly obligatory former player requirement as well. While that would have been a bold move from Rangers, what chief executive Patrick Stewart and co have opted for is eye-opening enough already. Here comes the cavalry - and we’re not just talking about the on-going American takeover bid.