A decade ago Alex McLeish walked through the front doors of Ibrox faced with massive challenges at every turn.

Just 42 years of age, he made the short journey along the M8 motorway from Hibs to take charge of the club he had supported all his life... but with eyes wide open at the magnitude of what lay ahead.

He had to replace Dick Advocaat, the wily Dutchman who had achieved huge success with the backing of Sir David Murray's millions behind him. But the cash was beginning to dry up as Advocaat was heading 'upstairs' into a Director of Football role.

McLeish had to win over supporters who felt that the job might be too much for him; those who craved a so-called bigger name for the coveted Rangers managerial hot-seat.

There was the big job of winning over a dressing room jam-packed with many international stars assembled by Advocaat.

And there were just as many egos to contend with as he inherited a squad laced with quality like Ronald de Boer, Lorenzo Amoruso, Fernando Ricksen, Claudio Caniggia, Michael Mols, Claudio Reyna, Shota Arveladze and Tore Andre Flo.

His biggest task, though, was that of trying to restore Rangers to a position of power in a head-to-head with the man who had spectacularly transformed Celtic's fortunes in the east end of the city, Martin O'Neill.

Now, as this Sunday's 10th anniversary of his appointment looms on to the horizon, the man who became McLeish's first lieutenant and confidant has insisted Big Eck has never been given the respect he deserved for the job he did over four-and-a-half roller-coaster years in Govan.

Barry Ferguson was club captain when McLeish arrived and liked what he saw right away. As time progressed, they would go through many highs and lows together, but formed a bond that has lasted strong to the present day.

He SAId: "The bottom line is that Alex McLeish won seven trophies during his time as Rangers manager – against a very, very good Celtic side managed by Martin O'Neill – but I don't think he was ever really given enough respect for that."

Ferguson, now skipper at npower Championships outfit Blackpool after a couple of seasons under McLeish at Birmingham City, added: "It was a huge job for him to come into. The league was more or less over by the time he came in that season, and Celtic were very dominant at that exact time.

"But I knew that two things would stand him in good stead for what lay ahead. Firstly, Alex was a real Rangers man. He knew the demands and expectations at the club, and understood that the manager has to try and deliver success to tens of thousands of people who live and breathe the club every day.

"The other factor was that he was a real winner. You see the public front of him; he's very calm and collected most of the time in front of the media and the cameras.

"But, trust me, he hates losing. I don't think he was at all daunted with the task to try and get Rangers back on top, and winning titles and trophies again after things had come off the rails under wee Dick, following the initial success we had when he arrived from PSV Eindhoven.

"That challenge drove him on. He knew he was up against a top, top manager in Martin O'Neill. But he instilled great belief in the dressing room, a massive desire, and he played a huge role in motivating the squad to win.

"We lost just one league game up until the end of the season after he took over – and we beat Celtic in the League Cup semi-final and the Scottish final at Hampden. That was the marker laid down.

"But the manager always stressed that he wanted the title. He knew that's what matters at Rangers. And in his first full season we won the Treble. Things like that don't just happen by accident, he was a huge influence on us and commanded great respect."

Of course, after the glory days of his first 18 months in charge – the only black mark being a dreadful exit to Czech unknowns Viktoria Zizkov in the Uefa Cup first round – things did start to become far more difficult.

After the 2002/03 treble season which laid a huge foundation, financial handcuffs appeared. McLeish was not given the budget of his predecessors and that had an impact.

Delving into the lower shelves in terms of quality, he made some mistakes and the immediate season after the Treble brought nothing.

Ferguson also departed during that spell for Blackburn but, by the time he returned, Rangers were very much back in the hunt for honours.

And, he says, the way McLeish reconstructed a squad with very little cash to spend, is further evidence of the outstanding job he performed during his time at Ibrox.

"When I came back in Jan-uary, 2005, the squad had changed dramatically," said the midfielder. "Alex had done some good wheeling and dealing and used the Bosman market to bring in Alex Rae, Dado Prso, big Marvin Andrews. Wee Nacho Novo had come in for £450,000 from Dundee, Gregory Vignal was on loan.

"Just before I returned, he lost Stefan Klos through injury, but found Ronald Waterreus. He sold Jean-Alain Boumsong to Newcastle, replaced him with Soto Kyrgiakos, and I came back along with Thomas Buffel.

"Everyone said Celtic would go on and storm to the league title as we could not cope with the changes.

"But the gaffer was different class. I noticed, in that 18- month spell that I had been away in England, that he had learned how to adapt to things that were thrown his way.

"The money wasn't there, but we won the League Cup and the league title on the last day at Easter Road. It was amazing, and he played a huge part with the way he managed to get the squad in shape out of that difficult January."

The following campaign, 2005/06, was to bring the end of the McLeish era.

The arrival of Gordon Strachan prompted yet another revival at Celtic, and the Gers' title defence was over by Christmas. Indeed, Rangers were to finish third, missing out on a Champions League place, and the trophy cabinet was bare.

But McLeish still managed to write another major achievement onto his CV.

"Being the first Scottish club to make it into the last 16 of the Champions League was outstanding," Ferguson added.

"People forget we lost out on away goals to Villarreal. That's how close we were to making the quarter-finals of the Champions League."

When McLeish left, he was replaced by Paul Le Guen, said to be in the top four or five young coaches in Europe, who joined French side Lyon.

After six months he was gone. In came Walter Smith. In the four-and-a-half seasons that followed – the same length of time McLeish was a Gers boss – Smith won eight trophies and took the club to the Uefa Cup final.

Measuring McLeish's haul next to that, maybe Ferguson has a point that he didn't get the praise he deserved.