Good Ranger. Bad Manager. But even Barry’s not as bad as Russell Martin | OneFootball

It is utterly remarkable to Ibrox Noise that any Rangers manager could be worse than Barry Ferguson. Barry, as great a Rangers man as he is, had without question the worst record of any Rangers manager in history. A 40% win rate. Absolutely abysmal. Many tried to excuse it by saying ‘look what he inherited’. But of course, the previous manager with the same players had a 62% win ratio. That was Philippe Clement. No new manager bounce because Barry simply didn’t have a clue. But Barry Ferguson is no longer Rangers’ worst ever manager.

Depth

He was an awful manager. Decent guy. Has Rangers in his heart. Only wants the best. But totally out of his depth as Rangers coach. Nowadays, some fans even want him back in the dugout. That is pure heart ruling over the head. He is not a manager. He had a good spell with League 1 Kelty, but then everyone does. Even Kevin Thomson managed to do okay there. At Clyde he was diabolical. And at Rangers, he drowned completely. He would have loved the gig full time at Ibrox, but it would have been an unmitigated disaster.

Yet for all that, Barry Ferguson is not the worst Rangers manager of all time. And that fact is depressing. Because that dishonour now rests with Russell Martin. His win ratio sits at a tragic 33%. Worse than Ferguson. Worse than anyone. His Rangers spell has been beyond a disaster. His numbers at Southampton told the same story. The lowest win ratio of any manager over five games in a single season. 6%. Two wins out of 16. Relegated. Fired. Absolutely atrocious manager. And yet Rangers went with him anyway.

Barry back?

We’ve already ranted about the decision-making process behind that choice. We won’t repeat it. But the fact some fans want Barry Ferguson back proves what we’ve said for years. Our fellow brothers and sisters, as much as we love them, don’t always have a clue. And to be fair, we don’t claim to either. We’re not going to hold a monopoly on the truth like Russell Martin pretends to. But listening to the fans will never get you anywhere. Remember, the same 90% of fans who wanted Martin to be given time. Thankfully, most of them have now seen the light.

Nevertheless, the idea that some fans would want Barry Ferguson back is laughable. Even more so when the vast majority of polls showed fans landsliding towards Steven Gerrard as their choice of next boss. We’ll have more to say on Gerrard in due course. But the bigger point is this. Should fans pick the next Rangers manager? Probably not. Should the Rangers board? Based on their track record, definitely not. Which leaves us asking one question. How on earth can we trust this regime to get it right?

But at least Barry Ferguson, one of our own, isn’t statistically the worst Rangers coach of all time – Barry Ferguson is no longer Rangers’ worst ever manager. That dishonour belongs to Mr Martin.