Kilmarnockvs.Rangers

The 44-year-old Hall of Fame member was appointed on Monday less than 24 hours after the sacking of Philippe Clement, who has departed after 16 months in charge.

Ferguson has returned to the club where he made a total of 409 appearances as a player across two spells and won five league titles, five Scottish Cups and five Scottish League Cups, several of which as captain.

Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Allan McGregor have all been added to Ferguson's backroom staff, and they will all work alongside Issame Charai who was appointed Clement's assistant just last month.

Ferguson is now preparing for his first game in charge of Rangers away against Kilmarnock on Wednesday night and although he has had just one training session with the first-team squad, his "hectic" arrival has also been "enjoyable" in familiar territory.

"It's obviously been hectic but it's also been enjoyable," Ferguson said at his first press conference on Tuesday. "Surprised that I got the call on Sunday, but it only took five minutes to agree.

"Then it was a case of me trying to get my staff together which took only 10 or 12 hours. I was worried it was going to drag on a bit but thankfully it wasn't the case and I got the three guys I wanted to come in."

Ferguson: 'Rangers players fully understand my expectations of them'

The decision for Rangers to replace Clement with Ferguson comes after the Gers suffered a shock Scottish Cup exit to second-tier side Queen's Park in the fifth round, before losing 2-0 at home to St Mirren in the Premiership last weekend.

Rangers were unable to mount a serious challenge for the top-flight title under Clement this term and hey currently sit 13 points behind leaders and Old Firm rivals Celtic with 11 league games remaining.

While domestic success is seemingly off the cards for Rangers, Ferguson is determined to make an immediate impact at Ibrox and end the season strongly, starting with a victory over Kilmarnock.

"I've not got long because I've only had one training session, but I'm not going to use that as an excuse in terms of the game against Kilmarnock," said Ferguson.

"We came in last night at about 4.30pm and me and the coaching staff sat down for four or five hours. We had to go through a lot of things so we were ready and prepared for the boys coming in this morning.

"I've not filled them with too much information because I think it's too short notice but they totally understand which way we're going to go against a very good Kilmarnock team and a very good, experienced manager.

"I expect to win games of football. I expect them to give me everything they've got. That's one thing me and my coaching staff will give them. I had a brief meeting for five or 10 minutes today and I got it across. They fully understand my expectations of them.

Ferguson aiming to restore confidence in Rangers squad

"I was at both games (home defeats against Queen's Park and St Mirren). I could see it was clearly a group low on confidence. My job is to pick that up and I've certainly got a response.

"Driving in this morning at 7am that was my thought process - I needed to get a kick out of these guys and they certainly gave me it. I couldn't have asked for any more of them. I'm confident I will get a rise out of them."

Ferguson will also be aiming to steer Rangers into the latter stages of the Europa League, with the Gers to come up against Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce over two legs in the last 16 next month.

"In terms of Europe, some of the performances have been top class but domestically, that is your bread and butter, that is where you have got to win most weeks," he told RangersTV.

"You are always going to have a bump in the road, but I think there have been too many bumps in the road, so it is my job as a manager and the staff's job to try and get a level of consistency in the squad.

"There are definitely quality players, and they look a good group, they just look a bit flat at this moment in time and it is our job to try and get this confidence back up."

Ferguson will take charge of his first game as a manager on Wednesday since resigning from his post at Alloa Athletic in February 2022 after only nine months at the helm.

Written by

Oliver Thomas