SO SAD;Rangers star refuses to sign a new deal and is determined to leave the club

An underwhelming set-up, an insipid Ibrox performance, and numerous Rangers players being shoe-horned into ill-fitting roles; Barry Ferguson was in the dugout but this was an afternoon pitifully reminiscent of Philippe Clement’s worst days at the helm.

If Ferguson wants the job full-time, this is the sort of result destined to send those dreams up in smoke.

Five successive home defeats in all competitions is a record no Rangers manager wants on his CV. Let alone a man who took such pride in leading by example on the Ibrox turf during two spells as a player in that iconic blue shirt.

And while this was a run started by Clement in the Scottish Cup against Queens’ Park, Barry Ferguson has now overseen three of those five losses. That’s if you include the eventual Europa League triumph over Fenerbahce in which Jack Butland’s penalty shoot-out heroics saved Rangers’ skin.

That magical night in Glasgow is starting to feel more and more like the triumphant last ride of a goalkeeper ripe for pasture.

Many Rangers fans had hoped to see Ferguson replace Butland with Jack Kelly before the former England international rolled back the years in the Europa League.

As Butland’s Premiership horror show continued – that Fenerbahce masterclass clearly a false dawn – Hibernian’s Dylan Levitt became the latest beneficiary of his hologram limbs.

But if that was the sort of unforced error no manager can legislate for, a fanbase who again booed their team off the park following Hibs’ 2-0 triumph on Saturday afternoon are well within their rights to question Ferguson’s handling of another underperforming key player.

Rangers fans criticise Barry Ferguson’s handling of Hamza Igamane in Hibs loss

Hamza Igamane wrote his name into Rangers folklore when thumping a stunning 89th minute winner past Celtic a few weeks back.