Barry Ferguson has never been the type of person to shirk a challenge and when he was asked to take the Rangers job until the end of the season, he didn’t think twice.
The intangible quality that is whether or not someone “gets” what it takes to be a success at Ibrox is epitomised in the Hall of Fame captain and he will be relishing his first Old Firm derby as Rangers manager.
Ferguson’s coaching career was short lived with a degree of success, however, returning to his spiritual home and going toe-to-toe with Jose Mourinho never seemed like a possibility.
As a player, he achieved everything possible for the club he loved with 16 trophies, a UEFA Cup final appearance and he knows how to beat Celtic.
It was Walter Smith who gave him his debut, however, it was Dick Advocaat and the 1998/99 season that really saw Ferguson emerge as the type of player that Rangers could do with now.
- READ MORE: Why Rangers vs Celtic is Called The Old Firm
Barry Ferguson’s first Old Firm derby for Rangers as a player
Ferguson breaking through from the youth ranks would have been impressive in any era, but the quality of midfielders that were at the club in 1998 make it doubly so.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Jonas Tern, Jorg Albertz, Rino Gattuso, Claudio Reyna, Ian Ferguson, Charlie Miller and Derek McInnes, were all competing for places, but it was the 21-year old who cemented his place and lined up in the first Old Firm derby of the season against Celtic.
The game itself was an end-to-end encounter that incredibly finished in a 0-0 draw played out in front of an expectant Ibrox crowd. Since then, an Old Firm derby has finished goalless on just four occasions.
In midfield, Ferguson was at the heart of everything good alongside Van Bronckhorst in what would become one of Rangers’ finest pairings because of their ability to dominate domestically, but with the technical ability to compete in Europe too.
Ferguson played Celtic 40 times in total as a player, winning 14, drawing seven and losing 19, scoring three goals in the process.
When Ferguson led Rangers to Scottish Cup success
Most memorably, was his free-kick in the 2002 Scottish Cup final or “The Peter Lovenkrands final” as it became known.
With 20 minutes to go in a pulsating match, Celtic were 2-1 in front thanks to goals from John Hartson and Bobo Balde, Martin O’Neil’s agricultural style of football caused a more skillful Rangers side problems, especially from set plays.
As was so often the case, if was Ferguson who led the fightback, dominating the midfield and cajoling those around him.
However, it was a moment of class that drew Rangers level, shortly after hitting the post.
From 25-yards out, Ferguson wrong-footed Rab Douglas and found the top corner with the sort of strike that David Beckham would have been proud of at his peak.
With extra-time looming, Neil McCann found Lovenkrands, and the rest is history.
