Barry Ferguson believes Rangers face a crucial decision on whether to appoint a new CEO before naming a chairman, as he reacted to Dave King's latest talkSPORT interview.

The former chairman, who led the club from 2015 to 2020, has expressed his intention to return following John Bennett's sudden exit due to health reasons on Saturday.

Although reports on Monday night are suggesting the current Ibrox board are not too fond of the idea.

While John Gilligan is temporarily filling Bennett's role, King insists the club needs fresh leadership with a long-term strategy, proposing he guides the club for the next two years.

Ferguson heard the discussion on the radio earlier today and tried to dissect everything that’s been going on at his old club, especially since there’s two vacancies of huge importance lying empty.

"It was a bit of a surprise when I heard the news," the ex-Rangers captain told the Go Radio Football Show.

"The most important thing is that he gets back to good health, so I wish him a speedy recovery. 

'He's come in in the last year or so and he's put a fair bit of money into the club. But when I heard the news, my first thoughts were I hope that he gets back to good health as I said.

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"Now John Gilligan has come in as acting chairman, and John knows the club inside out, he was here previous and I'm sure he will do a good job until a new chairman is going to be announced.

"I've known him for a long time, very passionate Rangers man, and I think it's a very good appointment until they get the new chairman in place." 

Discussing King's comments suggesting he would be keen on taking over the reins as Ibrox chairman, the retired Scotland international midfielder said: "I seen that it would be for a couple of years, and wouldn't be a long-term plan. 

"At this moment in time John Gilligan has stepped in and we just need to see what will arise with John Bennett stepping down for health reasons.

"But what I do know is Rangers do need a chairman in pretty soon, and a CEO. They are the two most important people at the club. So, I'm sure while John has stepped in on a caretaker basis, that will be one of his main priorities to make sure that Rangers get the right man to take them forward.

In response to King's assertion that there needs to be clarity about the situation unfolding behind the scenes at Ibrox, and the urgent need to appoint someone with ties to Rangers rather than just anyone with load of cash to invest, Ferguson concurred.

"At Rangers it's not a case that you can wait months," he continued.

“I think this needs to get sorted pretty quickly because it's a role that is the most important - the leader at the club - and that is a chairman and just below him is the CEO, which Rangers have been without since James Bisgrove left.

“In the coming weeks I fully expect Rangers to have somebody. It has to be somebody that has worked in the industry before but it also has to be someone that has a connection. I think that's important."

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Reflecting on the current gulf between Rangers and title rivals Celtic, Ferguson stated: "I was sitting at the last Old Firm game and apart from the first 10 minutes, you could see the quality, and I'm not just talking about on the pitch. It was the bench, they are making good changes. 

"But listen, it's going to be period of time that Rangers are going through a bit of change from the top, so hopefully in the coming weeks we can find out who is going to be taking the club forward."