Ferguson has been keeping quiet on where he hopes his future lies and amid all the speculation it was unsurprising that he had one of his quietest games in a Light Blue jersey.
With the captain not performing at his peak, it was left to Mikel Arteta to pull the strings in the midfield and the young Spaniard netted his third goal of the season in another accomplished display.
With Michael Ball again impressive at the back and Michael Mols leading the line superbly up front, there were many positive aspects for Alex McLeish to enjoy following a difficult week for him and the club.
The Rangers boss had called for a much improved performance from his side following the disappointing 1-1 draw with FC Copenhagen in midweek and the Gers boss will have been pleased with the way his side fought back from losing an early goal to claim a vital win.
All the pre-match gossip had been about Ferguson but he wasn’t the only player under the spotlight when play got underway.
With Craig Moore out with a hamstring injury, Henning Berg made his Rangers debut alongside Zurab Khizanishvili in central defence while Christian Nerlinger was also handed a surprise recall with Mo Ross dropping out of the squad.
It was a fired-up Aberdeen side who looked sharper and brighter during the early proceedings.
The adrenaline seems to flow liberally among the home contingent whenever Rangers visit the north-east and Steve Paterson’s ambitions were clear when he sent his side out in a attack-minded 4-3-3 formation.
With Scott Booth and David Zdrilic making their competitive home debuts – albeit second time around for the Scot – Aberdeen were making regular forays towards Stefan Klos’ goal, with the Light Blues relying on quick counter attacking.
Booth had a header plucked out the air after a flowing move from deep inside the Aberdeen half before the Dons went in front after 19 minutes.
A hopeful ball from Philip McGuire seemed to catch Berg unaware and he was outpaced by Zdrilic who fired in a shot that Klos did well to block.
Fortune was with the Australian on this occasion as the rebounded ball bounced off his chest and past the Rangers goalkeeper to give Aberdeen a fortunate lead.
Worse was to follow soon after for the visitors when Peter Lovenkrands had to go off on a stretcher after seeming to twist his knee after an innocuous challenge from McGuire.
At this stage McLeish must have wondered what more could have gone wrong this week but finally Rangers’ luck was to take a turn for the better when they equalised seven minutes before the break.
Ferguson had fired a free kick narrowly over in the opening exchanges but chose this time to shovel a short pass to Ball whose swerving drive cannoned off the underside off the crossbar.
Ronald de Boer was first to react to nod the bouncing ball over the line despite a desperate attempt by Booth to clear the danger.
Remarkably, five minutes later Rangers were in front. Mols created space in the penalty box to slide a pass to the unmarked Arteta who toe-poked the ball beyond David Preece from around 12 yards.
The half ended in predictably turbulent fashion, with Ball and McGuire picking up bookings after a 20-man rammy deep in the Aberdeen half, and the second period was no less competitive.
Preece made two great stops to deny first Steven Thompson and then Arteta as Gers pressed for another goal at the start of the half.
A moment of madness then ensued when a fan ran onto the pitch from the Aberdeen end, chased after Fernando Ricksen before aiming a kick at the Dutchman.
Once the police finally caught up with him and play was re-started, Ricksen made him pay in the best possible way by helping Rangers earn a third goal when he laid a ball into the path of Mols who swivelled to crash a shot low past Preece.
Advantage was firmly now with the Ibrox side although they suffered a scare when a Zdrilic header struck the crossbar and rebounded to safety.
Substitutes Thompson, Paolo Vanoli and Bob Malcolm all passed up gilt-edged chances to add to the scoreline before Eric Delomeaux reduced the deficit with a header that creeped over the line despite Arteta’s best intentions to clear.
It mattered little in the end as Rangers held on to round off a disappointing week with a much-needed victory.
ABERDEEN (4-3-3): 1 Preece; 2 Hart, 5 Anderson, 6 McGuire, 3 McQuilken (Clark 77); 8 Tosh, 29 Heikkinen (Deloumeaux 79), 10 Sheerin; 19 Zdrilic, 9 Booth, 11 Mackie (McNaughton 66)
Subs not used: Hutton, Hinds
Booked: McGuire (45)
RANGERS (4-3-3): 1 Klos; 2 Ricksen, 25 Berg (Malcolm 75), 15 Khizanishvili, 18 Ball; 8 Nerlinger, 6 Ferguson, 23 Arteta; 14 de Boer (Vanoli 54), 10 Mols, 11 Lovenkrands (Thompson 33)
Subs not used: McGregor, Hughes
Booked: Ball (45)
Man of the Match: Michael Mols