Let’s get one thing perfectly straight for all of the numbnuts out there. You know, those oafish, self-entitled unfortunates who, against all odds, are even more gormless than they appear to be at first sight.
Even though that in itself takes a bit of doing.
No, rightly or wrongly and despite what these misinformed non-entities might tell you, Barry Ferguson doesn’t believe he stands so much as a puncher’s chance of becoming the next Rangers manager.
On the contrary, having conducted his own review of his short time in charge, he has reached the conclusion that this particular ship has long since sailed. Most probably from the moment he sent out a side which capitulated so horribly at home to Hibs at the start of the month.
It’ll be hurting him deep inside no doubt. But, even so, he’s reconciled himself with it. He’s made his peace with it.
And his only realistic aim now is to enjoy the short time he has left on the sidelines, managing the club he cares for so profoundly.
Of course, there’s a chance he may have jumped the gun a little bit inside his own head.
Despite what he thinks to be the case, it’s not yet inconceivable that he’ll still be there next season given that the incoming American owners appear at any rate not to have put any plans in place for the upcoming campaign.
Who knows? It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Andrew Cavenagh and his backers from the San Francisco 49ers might still turn to Ferguson and ask him to stay at the helm whenever they do finally get their takeover across the finishing line.
In many ways, that would seem like a smart move, given how far Rangers have drifted over the years towards a state of paralysis and domestic irrelevance.
They could do a great deal worse than asking Ferguson and his men to drag the club kicking and screaming back towards what it once was, when it actually used to win things.
But if they do then it’ll come as a complete surprise to Ferguson who is already preparing himself for a return to a far quieter life when he is finished living out his dream in five league games from now, when the final whistle blows at Easter Road on May 17.
There’s a sense of bitter irony in there too given that it was David Gray who did so much irreparable damage to Ferguson’s long term ambitions for the job at Ibrox back on April 5.
He had only just come through a 10 day stretch during which he knocked Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce out of the Europa League while also scalping Brendan Rodgers on derby day at Celtic Park.
At that moment in time, Ferguson truly believed he and his backroom team to be capable of dragging something extraordinary out of the group of underachievers and empty jerseys they inherited from Philippe Clement.
But, in reality, he was selling himself a pup by underestimating the lack of resolve, character and basic professionalism inside Clement’s dressing room.
That’s the thing about Ferguson. He’s as authentic as they come.
And, because of that, he’ll find it impossible to fathom how so many of these players can pull on that shirt without cherishing and protecting it the way he and his coaching staff used to do.
He most certainly doesn’t need telling that some of the results and performances he has overseen have not been remotely close to the standards required of any Rangers team.
He knows it intrinsically because he’s lived and breathed it almost every day of his life.
Which is why, internally, he’s been coming to terms with his fate ever since that 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Hibs.
The truth of the matter is, while this would represent Ferguson’s dream job, his hopes of landing it on a more permanent basis have been undermined and very possibly torpedoed by a collection of charlatans and fraudsters masquerading as Rangers players.
There are all manner of these kiddy on merchants kicking around these days, in all professions and in every walk of life. The imposters really do walk among us.
Empty vessels who talk a good game without possessing any genuine substance or purpose.
If he was given the opportunity to tackle it for the long term, Ferguson would weed them out one by one before escorting them off the premises. And Rangers would be all the better for it.
But the chances are Cavenagh and his consortium will look elsewhere for a new manager and there’s a danger that they too will be duped into picking the wrong man based on a data driven algorithm or some form of artificial intelligence.
Of course, they could get lucky and get it right at the same time. The computer could unearth a managerial diamond and appoint someone who knows how to go about carrying out a restoration job on a club which has lost its identity as well as its direction.
But, in order for Rangers to be properly restored to what it once was, that candidate will have to have a clear idea about how it used to look and feel when it was a competitive, credible force in its own backyard.
That’s where Ferguson and his right hand men – Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Allan McGregor – have a head start on almost everyone else.
And that’s why it might be a mistake for Cavenagh and his people not to give them serious consideration before making a final determination on what comes next.
Ferguson, though, won’t be holding his breath and waiting for the phone to ring. He has concluded already the call is simply not going to come.
Whether he’s right or wrong will become clear over the course of the weeks ahead. But if it transpires that his time has come and gone then at least he can walk away with his head held high knowing he stayed true to himself throughout.
And, in a world of fraudulent behaviour, that’s an achievement in itself.
