Exclusive:Hibs and Rangers gaffers united by common experience as captains, club legends ... and successful managers?
David Gray can empathise with Ibrox stand-in Barry Ferguson - even as Easter Road gaffer plots opposite number’s downfall
The locals down Govan way probably wouldn’t appreciate the comparison, for obvious reasons. But deep down, they’d be absolute delighted if Barry Ferguson turned out to be Rangers’ own version of David Gray.
Club captain? Check. Fan favourite? You’d better believe it. Relatively inexperienced coach surpassing all expectations? They can get back to us on that one …
Despite his natural aversion to the limelight, Gray has learned to grow comfortable with his status as a Hibs icon. The self-deprecating one-liners about a certain goal on a specific day at Hampden are part of the defence against adulation that must get a little intense, at times.
As he watches Ferguson busting a gut to prove himself as interim boss at Ibrox, the former Light Blues skipper enduring wild highs and devastating lows – often in quick succession – while attempting to put his own stamp on a team assembled from predecessors’ odds and ends, Gray can obviously empathise. Especially with the feeling of being handed control of ‘your’ club. And expected to deliver results, regardless – or perhaps because – of past heroics as a player.
Some of those to travel this sort of path have, of course, spoken about the emotional pitfalls lying in wait for the gung-ho club servant desperate to do well. Is there such a thing as being too close, of it mattering too much?
“Possibly,” said Gray, promoted from stand-in to the No.1 job at Easter Road in the summer, the Scottish Cup-winning skipper adding: “When I think back to it, I had four or five interims in between that probably gave me a little bit of an idea of what it was like.
“When I think back to the very first time I was asked to step up, it was probably a different situation because I'd never been a manager before and I'd never experienced that side of it - regardless of whatever team it would have been. It could have been any team at that point, and I'd have been feeling the pressure. I was starting something I'd never done before so it's always that unknown of how it would go.
“But every time I then had the opportunity or was presented with the opportunity and trusted to take the club, or try and move the club forward, each time I felt a little bit more comfortable. Every single time. That probably made it easier to take on the job in the summer.
“Because yes, I very much understand exactly what it's been like to play. But I also understand what it's been like to be a coach here.
Former skipper has added passion to mix
“I've experienced highs and lows so all that experience could be looked at in different ways. Because it's not a case of having 500 games as a manager.
“There's different ways of showing that you’re right for the job. And that's something that Barry Ferguson will bring to Rangers – that he fully understands the pressures and responsibility of working for that club.
“He’s gone in there with a freshness and lifted the place in terms of the passion you clearly see at the side of the pitch.
“He's a proper Rangers man, isn't he? You know, captain of the club, everything that goes with that. He understands what it takes to play and work for that football club.
“So, he's definitely brought that back to the club. He went in that direction. He's brought that sort of positivity to that front.”
Reflecting on what it was like to step up and take on the responsibility of managing Hibs, the club he’d supported all his life, Gray said: “Initially for me, when I was asked, I was very proud. Proud that I’d been given that opportunity and trusted with the responsibility.
“Because, as you say, I've been very fortunate to captain the club - and the club means a lot to me. It's been a massive part of my career and my life.
“I've had the greatest moments in my footballing career here. They were all at this football club, so it obviously means a lot on that front.
“But at the same time, you realise that you've got a job to do - and they're asking you to do that job. And the job's based on results clearly, so it's about how do you find a way to try and get the best possible results.”
Unbeaten league run proves Hibs are up for challenge
Admitting that it will be “difficult” to predict which Rangers will turn up for Saturday’s visit of Hibs, with the contrast between European and domestic from providing a sort of erratic encouragement to all teams visiting Ibrox, Gray has plenty of reason to feel confident about his team’s chances of getting a first win there since 2018. Based on their own merit, rather than whatever intermittent failings Rangers might suffer.
“Regardless of who the manager was and what they're doing, it's a real difficult test for us,” said Gray. “It always is. We know that.
“But we're going into it in the best possible frame of mind with our results and performances and how the group's feeling at the minute. I think our 15 games in the league undefeated tells you that we're in a really good place.
“We're going to the game with a game plan to try and win the game as we always do. But it'll be very difficult regardless of circumstances.
“The fact that we haven’t won there for such a long time just shows you how difficult it is. We’ve got the challenge of taking on another a top team.
“They are where they are in the league for a reason. They've got European football coming up and they're doing so well in Europe it shows you how good a team they are. So it'll be a challenge
“But when I played, it was one I always looked forward to. I think the atmosphere is brilliant there, you know, old traditional stadium that's a proper football stadium, proper atmosphere. And the players can look forward to that.”