Barry Ferguson would have hoped to impress enough until the end of the season at Rangers that he would be in with a shout of landing his dream job.
An inability to change domestic fortunes all but rules Ferguson out though, but this hasn’t stopped him from making the big decisions in the short term.
Jack Butland was dropped against Athletic Club with Liam Kelly replacing him, and it was one that paid off.
The Rangers No.31’s dramatic penalty save means that the Europa League quarter-final tie with the Spaniards is stil alive.
However, this doesn’t mean that Butland won’t be back in the team before the end of the season with Ferguson hinting that it isn’t a permanent decision.
- READ MORE: ‘It’s the end of the world’ – Jack Butland gives defeat insight on familiar Rangers feeling
Barry Ferguson on ‘toughest’ decision to drop Jack Butland
Speaking after the hard-fought draw with Athletic, Ferguson explained just how tough a call it was to drop Butland:
“One of the toughest things I’ve had to do. Firstly, I think Jack Butland is a top goalkeeper.
“Secondly, I’ve got a very good relationship with Jack. I’ve known Jack a long time, he was a young kid coming through Birmingham when I went down to play for Birmingham in the Premier League.
“Thirdly, I’ve got to know it’s hurting Jack and I’ve got to be mindful of that as well. Because I care for him. I just had to make a decision and it was a tough decision when I spoke to him. I could see it was hurting.
“You go with decisions. It’s not one that I decided on Saturday night or Sunday. I thought long and hard about it. When I spoke to him it was a tough 10-15 minutes conversation.
“But listen, Jack’s still got a huge part to play here. In terms of Liam coming in, I thought he’d done well tonight.”
Will Butland be back before the end of the season?
Kelly is a sound understudy, but he isn’t a good enough goalkeeper for Rangers to build their team around.
The player himself is living a dream at Rangers, even he would probably be honest enough to admit the same to those closest to him though.
Similar to Jon McLaughlin, Kelly is a good goalkeeper, however, he isn’t the type to win games or to end the season having prevented his team from conceding 10 or more goals.
And this is exactly what Rangers need.
Butland has shown that he can be that goalkeeper, he is just enduring a crisis of confidence.
As seen when he first arrived at Rangers and had a point to prove, there is a good goalkeeper there, and it would be a surprise if he doesn’t return before the end of the campaign.
