The first thing that struck me about Barry was his sheerwill to win... it was outrageous howmuch he wanted to win, to win anything.

outrageous how much he wanted to win, to win anything.

“When he was standing there in the dressing room before a game he was more up for the match than some of the players were. His desire and his passion were incredible.”

Linton recalled how Ferguson, who kept Blackpool in the English Championship after being promoted from player/caretaker manager halfway through the 2013/14 season following Paul Ince’s sacking, treated part-time minnows Clyde like a full-time professional club.

“Barry’s preparation for games was incredible,” he said. “As I say, people looking in from the outside won’t realise it, but the amount of hard work and effort he put in to bring Clyde success was incredible.

“He brought in a video analysis guy to look at our performances. When we had an away game that required a long journey, against Elgin for example, he would take us away on a Friday night and we would stay at the best hotels. He demanded the very best of everything even though we were working with a part-time club’s budgets.

“Everything was run like it would be (at) a full-time club under Barry. We were really well looked after. In fact, we got treated like royalty. We were his main priority. I will never say a bad word about him or what he tried to do at Clyde.

“When you are a part-time club you all have jobs and train twice a week you can’t spend a lot of time on tactics and shape. You want to enjoy yourselves and have fun. But he would always look at the opposition and how we would approach matches.”

Linton, who is currently sidelined with a hernia injury, feels that Ferguson’s methods may be better suited to a top-flight club and has predicted he will not be overawed in the slightest by the demands there will be on Caixinha to succeed at Rangers.

“I felt sorry for Barry at Clyde in a way,” he said. “When you’re a parttime player your priority is your job and then your family. Don’t get me wrong, you want to play well, you want to win and you take it seriously, but football is secondary.

“I think if Barry takes that desire to be the best that he has in to a full-time club he will get more out of the job. His will to win, his work ethic, the high standards that he sets are more suited to a full-time club.

“He knows what is required to succeed at Rangers having been there as a player before. I think they will be bringing in the right man if they do go for him. He knows the club inside out. They could do a lot worse than bring in Barry Ferguson.”