Charlatans and fraudsters masquerading as Rangers players- Jackson slaughters the stars that have cost Ferguson his dream job

Keith Jackson believes that the 2-0 home defeat from Hibs has killed off Barry Ferguson’s dream of becoming permanent manager at Ibrox.

Up until February Ferguson was a Daily Record colleague of Jackson, pouring over every word in his column before it went to print.

Only a complete numbnut would believe that contact between the two men ended when Ferguson slipped on the brogues, pulled on the blazer and felt his chest soaring out with pride.

The Daily Record has spent almost every day explaining to their declining army of readers why Ferguson was perfect for the job on a permanent basis.

An easy formula went to work. If the team won Ferguson was the genius required to take the club into next season, if they lost Barry was the man to sort everything out because he pure gets it, he knows what the club is all about.

Not since the introduction of Craig Whyte or the campaign to back The Vow created by Gordon Brown in 2014 has the Record shown a similar level of backing for a campaign.

Jackson is still confident that by the end of this month the San Francisco 49GERS will be calling the shots inside Ibrox but he is now resigned to having Ferguson return to Record Sport to share his insights and wisdom.

After a few months as manager at Ibrox Ferguson will be expecting a healthy pay hike in return for his thoughts.

Discussing the prospects of the interim manager getting the job on a permanent basis, Jackson tells Record readers:

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.

With Ferguson being downgraded to club ambassador and resuming his media work at the Record and Go Radio the next manager better get off to a flying start which will require getting through three rounds of Champions League qualifiers before the end of August.

If the new man doesn’t instantly transform the club there won’t be any shortage of snipers in the media putting forward the case for Ferguson to return because he pure understands what the club is all about, he gets it.

NOTE: Ferguson has won four of his 10 matches in charge, none at Ibrox.