Ferguson, up in Scotland to cast an eye over Rangers, will have no such qualms after seeing his Champions League opponents struggle to get into any sort of rhythm against so-called lesser opponents.
Needless to say, Alex McLeish will not have been content with the way his team struggled to gain any sort of foothold in this match.
The Rangers boss will now need to call on all his man-management skills to rejuvenate his squad before Manchester United come calling at Ibrox on Wednesday night.
The history books will show that an early Shota Arveladze goal earned the Light Blues a draw here at Fir Park this afternoon but this must have felt like a defeat to McLeish and his men.
With Celtic enjoying a four-point lead at the top of the table following their simple win over Hearts yesterday, Rangers knew nothing less than a victory here would suffice if they were to maintain their championship challenge but they were unable to conjure one up.
McLeish had been able to re-introduce Craig Moore and Fernando Ricksen to his starting line-up, with Zurab Khizanishvili pushed into a new midfield role alongside Mikel Arteta and Emerson.
After only 14 minutes it seemed like a tactical masterstroke by McLeish when the young Georgian helped Rangers into the lead.
Khizanishivili, shuttling back and forth across the edge of the Motherwell box, finally clipped a neat pass through to the on-rushing Arveladze who executed a cute lob over Gordon Marshall that bounced into the gaping net.
Despite spending more time in the box than David Blaine, Arveladze’s shot was one of only a handful from the Light Blues throughout a difficult 90 minutes as they tried to walk the ball past the goalkeeper instead of trying their luck from distance.
On a bitterly cold afternoon – only a fool would have ventured out without a coat of some description – Rangers were made to work hard just to get one point.
A James McFadden goal had given Motherwell a slender victory the last time McLeish had brought his side to Fir Park and, even without the talismanic Scotland forward, the home side again posed Rangers numerous problems.
Steven Craig had signalled his side’s intentions after only 10 minutes when he slid a shot narrowly wide and the same player was involved when Well drew level with 25 minutes gone.
His through ball dissected a disjointed Rangers defence and, when Henning Berg’s headed backpass didn’t reach Stefan Klos, Stephen Pearson rounded the goalkeeper and rammed a strike into the roof of the net.
The strike seemed to reinvigorate the Steelmen and Derek Adams lifted a free kick narrowly over the crossbar before Rangers passed up a glorious chance to move back in front when Michael Mols couldn’t force the ball over the line from close range.
Arteta was next to threaten with decent strikes either side of the interval; Marshall palmed away his free kick just before half-time before the Spaniard thumped a drive off the crossbar just after the re-start.
With the game becoming increasingly ragged, both teams had gilt-edged chances to forge in front as play raged from end to end.
Mols should have scored from close range after latching on to Ricksen’s pass but took too long before Keith Lasley stabbed a shot wide in front of an open goal and then saw a point-blank attempt just minutes later well parried by Klos.
McLeish threw on Paolo Vanoli and Egil Ostenstad to try to salvage the situation but every Rangers move was gratefully swallowed up by the Well defence amid a sea of misplaced passes and woeful crossing.
There was another late let-off when David Clarkson’s low drive was well parried by Klos as Motherwell passed up the chance to steal all three points.
Manchester United might not be so profligate on Wednesday night.
MOTHERWELL (4-4-2): 1 Marshall; 2 Corrigan, 5 Craigan, 14 Partridge, 3 Hammell; 4 Lasley, 8 Leitch, 7 Adams, 6 Pearson; 17 Craig (Dair 78), 18 Clarkson
Subs not used: Corr, Quinn, Fagan, Wright
Booked: None
RANGERS (4-4-2): 1 Klos; 2 Ricksen (Capucho 79), 25 Berg, 3 Moore, 18 Ball; 23 Arteta, 15 Khizanishvili, 4 Emerson (Vanoli 66), 26 Lovenkrands (Ostenstad 69); 7 Arveladze, 10 Mols
Subs not used: McGregor, Hughes
Booked: Ricksen (66), Khizanishvili (74), Moore (85)
Man of the Match: Shota Arveladze