Ferguson: Skipper has an even more vital role now (StuartFranklin/Allsport)

The barrage of questions all alluded to the jersey. But none was designer driven - rather, every one was businesslike in that it demanded an answer to the latest Ibrox turmoil.

Who will still be around to sport the new top come next season? How will the captain cope after Dick Advocaat's midfield went into meltdown, with Jorg Albertz, Kerimoglu Tugay, Claudio Reyna and Giovanni van Bronckhorst all reported to be heading out of Ibrox?

For so long the jewel in Advocaat's crown, Ferguson has had a torrid time of it since assuming the skipper's role from Lorenzo Amoruso, another to turn his back on the Dutchman after being given the silent treatment for almost a year, and who also needs replacing this summer.

And with news of Albertz's request to be allowed to leave on compassionate grounds becoming public, the man who has carried all Rangers' burdens on his shoulders this disastrous season is facing the prospect of having to gel a completely new midfield next year.

If defence and attack were seen as the areas where rebuilding would focus, it has now become clear that Rangers - in what looks like being Advocaat's last season - are engaged in wholesale change.

'Even if we had won things this season, there would still have been changes, that's football,' ventured Ferguson.

He added: 'Jorg is a great player who is loved by the fans, so of course it would be disappointing if he left - but it is up to the club. We will all be disappointed when he goes but it is not for me to talk about.'

His responses to enquiries over the scale of the loss when Albertz goes - even before the final tally of departures is confirmed - were limited and accompanied by shrugs, which said much about the responsibility he recognises he now endures.

'With getting the captain's job, I have been trying to do things I shouldn't be doing a lot of the time. But it's a learning experience and next year will be different. It is a big job at a massive club but I will get there,' he vowed.

Ferguson, of course, remains coveted, certainly in England, and may yet end up causing an even bigger stir than Albertz if he chooses to place personal priorities above those of the club he has supported, and then been asked to carry.

In the meantime, starting afresh will be the order of the day, even at Ibrox.

Tugay, another gifted midfielder whose lengthy international repute cut no ice with the manager when it came to earning a regular starting berth, has the irritation of a work-permit requirement to play in England.

Graeme Souness, however, after meeting with Murray, is eager to complete the deal. The Turk shares the same agent as Eyal Berkovic - who is still in Souness' plans - and will take his chances of winning a permit on an appeal based on his 64 caps, plus extenuating circumstances.

Van Bronckhorst, tipped to sign for Arsenal rather than Chelsea since talks between Murray and Highbury chief David Dein, is a case the supporters can understand, with business imperatives backing up the player's own desire to better his lot. Hence the need to keep Claudio Reyna.

Murray is adamant that the American will not be allowed to leave - and yet, with the team Advocaat built going its separate ways, the first fruits of a perceived campaign to be allowed to take up offers from elsewhere may force the chairman's hand.

So far only Claudio Caniggia, at 34, has pledged himself to the club next year.

John MacMillan, general secretary of the Rangers Supporters Club, said: 'The question must be asked whether the team can afford to lose players of such calibre.

'Even if there are other players in the pipeline, they will need time to bed in. We have to be off and running at the start of next season, especially as the European games come so early.