As Barry Ferguson departs his role as interim boss at Ibrox we at Inside Ibrox would like to thank our former captain for his service and for his attempts to steady the ship as we move towards our new era post takeover.
Rangers have had numerous caretakers throughout their history, with varying degrees of success, we look at them all here:
Willie Thornton – 27th November 1969 until 8th December 1969
Rangers first ever temporary boss, former player Willie Thornton took charge of the side following the removal of Davie White.
Thornton had been assistant to White and would remain so under the next permanent appointment in Willie Waddell.
Thornton took charge 2 matches as gaffer and would have a 100% record across the duo. He took charge of a 3-0 home win over Raith Rovers and managed to leave Tynecastle a week later with a 2-1 victory before returning to his role as second in command under Waddell.
Tommy McLean – 28th October 1983 until 10th November 1983
It would be over a decade before Rangers would require a temporary appointment in the dugout again after the resignation of John Greig.
It would be another former player with ex-Ibrox midfielder McLean taking charge of 4 matches over a 2-week period.
Unfortunately, he would not have the success of Thornton and failed to win any of his league games in charge, losing 3 to Celitc, St Mirren and Aberdeen and earning his only victory over Clydebank in the League Cup before Jock Wallace returned as permanent manager.
McLean would go on to prove he had ability as a manager and win the Scottish Cup as Motherwell manager in 1991.
Alex Totten – 7th April 1986 until 16th April 1986
Graeme Souness would be announced as Rangers manager on April 8th but would not officially take control until the end of the season as he was still a player for Sampdoria at the time.
In the meantime, Alex Totten, assistant to the departed Wallace, would take control of the team to secure European qualification.
However, following defeat to lowly Clydebank in his only match in charge, qualification looked like it may not happen, and Totten was dismissed and replaced with another caretaker for the season’s final few matches.
Walter Smith 16th April 1986 until 1st May 1986
Souness’ incoming assistant, Walter Smith would be thrust into the hotseat for the run-in of the 1985/86 season to guarantee a UEFA Cup place for his new bosses arrival.
However, the future Ibrox boss wouldn’t have it easy and lost his first match in charge away to St Mirren at Love Street, he would get an impressive point away to Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen in his second match before finally securing 5th place and Europe with a last day win over Motherwell in his Ibrox debut.
Souness would take charge of Rangers final match of the season, a victory over Celtic in the Glasgow Cup final, as Smith returned to his role as number two.
Smith would go on to replace Souness in 1991 and would win 10 league titles and 11 cups over two spells as permanent boss at Ibrox and the sadly departed gaffer is now immortalised with a statue outside the stadium.
Ian Durrant – 4th January 2007 until 10th January 2007
Another former player was the next caretaker boss of Rangers in 2007 after the departure of Paul Le Guen.
Durrant who spent 13 years as a player at Ibrox, took charge of only a single match during his week in charge, a 3-2 loss away to Dunfermline that ended any hopes of domestic success that year.
A spirited fightback from 3-0 down was not enough to salvage anything and Durrant would join returning incoming manager Walter Smtih’s coaching staff and would remain at Ibrox in different coaching positions until the summer of 2016.
Kenny McDowall – 21st December 2014 until 12th March 2015
Former St Mirren player McDowall would join Rangers with Smith in January 2007 as first team coach and would be promoted to assistant to Ally McCoist in 2011.
With McCoist placed on gardening leave following his resignation in late 2014, the inept Rangers board of the time placed McDowall, who had no experience as a boss, in charge until the end of the season despite him making it clear he did not want the role.
He offered his own resignation in January 2015 but was forced to work his years notice by the spiv board who saddled him with the infamous ‘Newcastle Five’ during the January window.
His time at Ibrox was a disaster, with Rangers losing heavily to Hibs in his debut, exiting both cups to Celtic and Raith Rovers and dropping to 3rd in the Championship under his tenure.
With the takeover and introduction of a new board in March, McDowall was allowed to depart and was replaced by another caretaker to see out the disastrous 2014/15 season.
Stuart McCall – 12th March 2015 until 15th June 2015
Former player and Motherwell manager McCall would replace McDowall towards the end of the 14/15 campaign and would quickly address fitness and performance issues.
He would initially see an uptake in form with Rangers returning to 2nd in the Championship and notching up wins over both Hibs and Hearts across March and April before 3 draws in the last 4 league games saw his side slip back to 3rd and into the first round of the playoffs.
Wins over Queen of the South and Hibs would set up a playoff final against his former club Motherwell, but it would be a step too far and Rangers would be humiliated 6-1 on aggregate and be confined to another year in the Championship.
McCall would depart to be replaced by Mark Warburton in the summer and go on to manage Bradford City.
Graeme Murty - 10th February 2017 until 12th March 2017 and 26th October 2017 until 1st May 2018
Former Scotland international Graeme Murty had two spells as caretaker boss at Ibrox between spells as Under 20’s head coach.
His first spell came after the resignation of Mark Warburton in 2017, and he was decently received. Results were up and down but he ended his tenure with a respectable 1-1 draw away to Celtic, the Gers first, and only, point against their rivals all season.
He would step back down to the Under 20’s when Pedro Caixinha took charge, but would be back again in October after the Portuguese manager was relieved of his duties.
His second spell promised much but fell off a cliff, after seemingly dragging Rangers back into a title fight it was all set up for a showdown against league leaders Celtic at Ibrox in the March with the gap at 6 points.
Rangers took the lead twice in the first half and Celtic would be reduced to ten men but Murty’s side somehow managed to lose the match and effectively gift wrap Celtic the title.
A run of 2 wins in 6 would follow, including a home defeat to Kilmarnock and successive 4-0 and 5-0 cup and league hammerings to Celtic which seen Murty relieved before the end of the season.
The pressure of the job seemed to get to Murty and he has not taken any senior management positions since and after departing Ibrox he has become manager of Sunderland’s second string.
Jimmy Nicholl 1st May 2018 until 31st May 2018
Another former player would follow Murty as caretaker with ex-Northern Irish international Nicholl taking control of the side for the month of May until the appointment of Steven Gerrard came into effect in the summer.
Nicholl would be unbeaten in his 3 matches in charge but following a win over Kilmarnock in his only match as boss at Ibrox his side would slump to successive draws with Aberdeen and Hibernian to miss out on 2nd place and finish 3rd for a second successive season.
David McCallum 11th November 2021 until 22nd November 2021
Youth coach McCallum headed up a four-man management team of himself, Jermain Defoe, Brian Gilmour and Colin Stewart for Rangers Scottish Cup semi final against Hibs in 2021 following Gerrard’s sudden departure.
The match would be a disappointment with the Gers going down 3-1 to the Easter Road side to miss out on more cup silverware.
Giovanni Van Bronkhorst would take charge following the match and McCallum would return to his role with the B team.
Steven Davis 1st October 2023 until 15th October 2023
The Ibrox sides most recent caretaker before Ferguson was a former teammate of his in Steven Davis.
The former club captain was still training with the side following a severe injury the previous season and took charge of a duo of matches following the dismissal of Michael Beale.
The club fell to a humiliating defeat to Aris Limassol in Cyrpus in his debut but recovered to win against St Mirren in his second and final match in charge before Phillipe Clement took over.
Davis would continue to help coach and train with the club until his retirement in January the following year after failing to fully recover from his injury.