If Barry Ferguson is looking for examples of caretaker managers who earned themselves the job full-time, Rangers’ interim boss need only glance across at Hibernian chief David Gray.
As Rangers prepare to welcome Hibs to Ibrox on Saturday afternoon, Ferguson will go eyeball-to-eyeball with a man who went from captain to head coach. A fans’ favourite returning to his old stomping ground initially on a short-term basis before earning a permanent contract.
There are certainly similarities, then, between Barry Ferguson and David Gray in the Hibernian hotseat.
Gray had no fewer than four spells in caretaker charge before the Edinburgh outfit finally gave him the gig in the summer of 2024. Last week’s 3-0 trouncing of St Johnstone ensures that Gray – the Hibernian boss has been named March’s Manager of the Month – heads to Glasgow protecting a 15-game unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers tipped to end David Gray’s unbeaten Hibernian run
Now, former Rangers duo Derek Ferguson and Gordon Dalziel both believe that Hibs’ stunning run – their best since the 2013/14 season – is destined to come to an end at Ibrox.
However, while predicting that Rangers will triumph by three goals to one, Ferguson and Dalziel insist that the recent success of the Easter Road outfit is proof of what can be achieved with a dash of familiarity and a dose of patience.
“Hibs have got good players but I think Rangers will edge it,” Ferguson says. “Rangers will win it.”
“I think Hibs will score,” Dalziel adds. “I’m going, probably, 3-1.”
Talk about a season of two halves.
Two wins in 16 to start the 2024/25 campaign – their worst beginning to a season since the early-80s – followed by the most remarkable of turnarounds.
Dalziel believes that the thrilling 3-3 draw with Rangers in early-January was the moment when Gray really announced himself as a tactician to watch out for, masterminding a response after hat-trick hero Hamza Igamane had fired the visitors into a 2-0 lead with fewer than 20 minutes on the clock.
“I think he’s handled the press brilliantly,” Dalziel says. “For me, it wasn’t when he was winning. It’s when he was under pressure. I though they would have pulled the trigger on him.
“Ibrox is going to be a big test for them but they’ve got enough quality there. For me, everybody wrote off [in-form captain Martin] Boyle and, all off a sudden, he has been massive to what they are doing.
“I think [Gray] grew into management in the Rangers game at Easter Road. They were destroying them and he changed it very quickly.”
Derek Ferguson aims Philippe Clement dig while praising Hibs boss
Hibernian are now emerging as the favourite to finish on the podium alongside Rangers and champions-in-waiting Celtic. One of the major tests facing Ferguson as he looks to follow in Gray’s footsteps, meanwhile, is finding a way to fix Rangers’ Achilles heel on Ibrox soil.
If you include that 2-0 loss against Fenerbahce – Jack Butland saved Rangers’ skin at Jose Mourinho’s expense in a resulting penalty shoot-out – the Glasgow giants have lost their last four home games in normal time.
Derek Ferguson, Barry’s older brother and a Rangers forward of the 1980s, appreciates David Gray’s straight-talking nature too. A reluctance to rely on excuses – even when things were going badly – is something he believes former Rangers boss Philippe Clement could learn from.
“Clearly, I’m not a Hibs supporter but I enjoyed listening to him because you believed in what he was saying and he was honest,” Ferguson explains. “That is where the frustration kicked in with Clement because it was gobbledegook.
“It’s brilliant that they gave [Gray] time.”
Speaking in his press conference on Thursday afternoon, Rangers assistant Neil McCann confirmed that Vaclav Cerny could return after he missed the 4-3 victory over Dundee seven days prior.
