Ferguson not ruling out return to management

Barry Ferguson would "never rule out going back into management" and says he has already had "a few offers" since his spell as Rangers' interim head coach came to an end this summer.

The 47-year-old former Rangers and Scotland captain took charge after Philippe Clement was sacked in February but was replaced with Russell Martin after a US-based takeover of the Scottish Premiership club.

A 40% win rate in his 15 games in charge - 24% worse than the Belgian - did not help his cause, but Ferguson "thought we done pretty well" after he and assistants Neil McCann and Billy Dodds led their side to the Europa League quarter-finals.

"I'd never rule out going back into management," Ferguson told Go Radio in his first interview since his spell in charge ended.

"I've had a few offers from Scotland, down south and abroad, but I just felt they weren't right. I'll take a bit of time out and get back to doing what I was doing previously."

Ferguson will return to his club ambassador role at Ibrox but feels that "overall, I can look myself in the mirror" after his stint in the managerial hotseat.

"It was kind of bumpy at times," he said. "I knew that was going to be the case. When I took over, the players were very low and had suffered some difficult results.

"So it was about me coming in and trying to lift them with the staff I brought in alongside me."

Ferguson says he "loved every minute" of his time at the helm and was just "thankful for the opportunity" he thought would never come despite his previous spells managing Clyde, Kelty Hearts and Alloa Athletic.

"There were results at Ibrox, the ones that stick out - Motherwell and Hibs - they were really disappointing," he said. "We had some brilliant times and some difficult times.

"I had a brilliant three months, but that's finished with. My life is back to being nice and quiet again, which I'm quite happy with."

Ferguson admitted that picking McCann, Dodds and former goalkeeper Allan McGregor as his backroom team led to "some feisty moments".

However, he added: "I could have picked a number of people, but I wanted to go with people who would really challenge me as a staff. I like getting challenged.

"Certainly the staff that I picked gave me a few challenges."