BARRY FERGUSON is over 16 years and 600 games in.
He is heading towards that defining moment most footballers dread. To outsiders the decision may appear quite simple – do you play on, fight against the warning signs from a body that has been through the mill, or do you start planning for something new? But it's never quite as clear-cut as that for any player.
One thing is absolutely certain in the 34-year-old's mind: he will be remaining in the game. But in what form? That is the crucial issue for the former Rangers and Scotland captain, now at Blackpool.
This is a different Barry Ferguson from the one who has courted controversy in the past and he now shakes his head at the very recollection of the impertinent moments that thrust him into headlines for all the wrong reasons.
"I'm into the last year of my contract at Blackpool, I was 34 in February past so I think it's only natural to start thinking about the next step," he says candidly. "I love it down here; the place is fantastic, the manager is a great guy and the club have said they want me to sign for another year. I am not at all ruling that option out.
"But there is a massive desire for me to get into the coaching side of things. That is something I am thinking about more and more, so we will just see what happens. Right now I am concentrating on making sure Blackpool win games and stay in the promotion hunt."
So then, where exactly is Ferguson in terms of his own development? And would he be ready to follow in the footsteps of people he played alongside, the likes of Derek McInnes and Paul Lambert, in moving straight from playing into coaching positions, should the right job come his way.
"I passed my UEFA B licence last summer over in Ireland, and I will complete the A licence there this summer," he says. "In the past couple of weeks I have also been working with the Blackpool youth team, which has been great. I've started looking at games differently on TV, thinking more about tactics, formations and all different aspects of the game.
"I know people might look at me and maybe wonder if this is something that I can do. But I am a very different person now than I was before. I am not a daft wee boy."
Ferguson admits that his body is feeling the effects of a career that now stretches back to a senior debut for Rangers in 1996. He sticks to a strict training, exercise, diet and massage routine to make sure he is ready and able whenever his manager, Ian Holloway, calls upon him to patrol the Blackpool midfield. But the bottom line is that he is now heading towards 35.
"The manager and I have a fantastic, open relationship and I have been used sparingly at times so far this season," says Ferguson. "There has to be a realism that knocks and injuries can take it out of you more. That said, I still have the same appetite for the game."
Whether that appetite will continue to be satisfied in the heat of battle, or from a dugout, is for Ferguson to decide.
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