Derek Ferguson reckons letting Davie Cooper leave Rangers in 1989 was one of Graeme Souness's biggest mistakes.
Cooper spent 12 years at Ibrox, winning three league titles, four Scottish Cups and seven League Cups.
And now, almost 25 years after Cooper passed away at the age of 39, Ferguson insists his old pal Coop still had much more to offer, as he showed by going on to star for Motherwell and guiding them to a famous Scottish Cup win in 1991.
Cooper was deemed surplus to requirements as Souness's Rangers revolution got underway, with a host of English players, including winger Mark Walters, brought into the squad.
And appearing on the Lanarkshire Live Sport documentary 'Davie Cooper: Remembering a Legend', Ferguson said: "He left Rangers far too early in my opinion.
"It was Graeme Souness [in charge] at the time and he had decisions to make.
"He was wanting to go with a younger breed of players and I think maybe Graeme Souness looks back and thinks: "Should I have kept him another year or two because of the influence he had on other players?"
"I think that was one of the few mistakes that Souness made."
The 52-year-old played alongside Coop for six years in Govan from 1983 and he believes, having witnessed his supreme talent at close quarters, there's no doubt in his mind that Cooper is the greatest-ever player to don a Rangers jersey.
"I played the game professionally for 23 years and I was lucky to play with some great players, but the one who stood out a mile was Davie Cooper," said Ferguson.
"Nobody came near him in terms of his vision and ability on the ball.
"People say that he only had a left foot, but it was a wand of a left foot.
"For me, he's the best Rangers player ever."And that's talking about guys like Jim Baxter, John Greig, Willie Henderson - top players, absolute legends - but Davie Cooper is the best Ranger ever.
"He lived his dream and that's his legacy."
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