I've heard folk claiming something about Rangers that's simply not the case – Barry Ferguson

The legend Ibrox captain has had his say on the situation at his old club with a number of key positions needing filled

The only thing rarer in football than a Scotland win these days is a show of patience. But I really believe we could do with one at both Hampden and Ibrox right now.

As far as Scotland are concerned, it hasn’t been a great time for Steve Clarke’s side of late. Listen, I totally understand the frustration that has swirled round the national team this year. Just one win in the last 14 games isn’t good enough and the Tartan Army have every right to be upset. But I’m not having this notion that the manager’s position should be under threat if we fail to get results this week against Croatia and Portugal.

We all need to take a step back and just remember where this squad was before Clarke arrived. We’d spent two decades out in the cold looking on enviously while the rest of the world was heading off to major tournaments. That all changed with Clarke’s appointment and you only have to ask the fans who flooded over to Germany during the summer what they thought of that experience.

Of course, results at Euro 2024 were disappointing, just as they were at Euro 2020. But look at the injuries we had to deal with during the tournament. And look at the devastating casualty list Clarke is looking at right now as he prepares for tomorrow’s trip to Zagreb. He’s got Angus Gunn, Greg Taylor, Scott McKenna, Kieran Tierney, Jack Hendry, Nathan Patterson, Aaron Hickey, John McGinn, Lewis Ferguson and Lawrence Shankland all out of contention - not to mention the recently retired Callum McGregor.

We simply don’t have a playing pool deep enough to handle losing that many key figures and still be able to take on the top nations. And that’s the key point.

Under Clarke we’ve continuously improved year on year and we’re now competing against Europe’s A teams in the Nations League. Croatia might not be the force they once were but we’re still talking about a team that made a World Cup final in 2018, who won the bronze medal in Qatar only two years ago.

And I’d love to have someone of Luka Modric’s class in our team, even if his legs are creaking to a halt at 39. He’s not their only star. You’ve got Manchester City duo Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic in there, former Inter, Bayern and Spurs veteran Ivan Perisic too. So there’s no way we’ll be heading to the Stadion Maksimir as favourites. And let’s be honest, we won’t be expected to get a result when Portugal come to town next Tuesday either.

Cristiano Ronaldo is getting on too but as he showed in Lisbon last month, he’s still got plenty to offer at international level, especially with his own cast of household names for back up. We got off to a dreadful start during the last international break losing both games. But if you look at the performances there’s actually plenty to be encouraged by. We’d have beaten a strong Poland outfit were it not for three horror individual blunders.

And we were just moments away from getting a brave point at the Stadium of Light before Ronaldo left us in the shade late on. I’m hoping we can build on those displays this week but I’m realistic enough to admit that the injuries hampering Clarke might mean it’s another difficult watch. But that doesn’t mean we should be calling for his head. It’s unfair to judge a manager when he’s taking on top-class opposition with his hands tied behind his back due to injuries. The time to judge Clarke is when we get to the World Cup qualifiers next March. Hopefully by then we’ll have our top performers back and can have a good crack at reaching the finals in North America.

And I’m hoping we’ll have seen a new hierarchy installed at Ibrox long before that too. This week’s news director of football operations Creag Robertson was stepping down has sparked another wave of groans, but for me it doesn’t have to be seen as the latest crisis point. The club are clearly going through a process where changes at the top of the Marble Staircase are being made.

Creag has decided it’s time to move on and pursue opportunities elsewhere but that just offers who ever comes in as the new chairman and chief executive the chance to install their own people.

I’ve heard a lot of folk claiming the club has been rudderless and lacked direction since John Bennett and James Bisgrove stepped down. But that’s simply not the case.

John Gilligan is back as chairman and has George Letham in there assisting him in the interim period as they complete the search for the new man to lead the board and another to take on the chief exec post.

Both these guys are committed Rangers men and will do their utmost to help the club through this difficult period. And they’ve both pledged to stay on board for as long as it takes to find the right people for some of the biggest jobs at Ibrox.

Recruiting the kind of serious operators that are required is not an easy task. I’m told there has been a lot of interest in the chief executive vacancy, with a few interesting candidates from down south keen on making the move to Glasgow. The board will have to do their due diligence of course and then there might be a notice period to contend with.

So it might be another couple of months before Rangers are in a position to make these key appointments. I get folk are getting frustrated with the time it’s taking given Bisgrove quit at the end of May, while it’s now four weeks since Bennett stepped down on health grounds. But if we’re serious about getting quality people we should be prepared to wait for them.

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