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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Ben Banks

When Rangers pulled the trigger on 5 sacked bosses as Gio van Bronckhorst's future hangs in balance

The Rangers fans have chanted for his exit and once that happens, there's usually little chance of going back.

A 2-1 defeat to St Johnstone on Saturday has left Giovanni van Bronckhorst in a perilous position as Ibrox manager, now seven points behind Premiership leaders Celtic. He won the Scottish Cup and got to a Europa League final after taking over in November 2021 but this season has brought a calamitous Champions League campaign where they finished statistically as the 'worst ever' side to have competed at the group stage phase.

Domestic performances have been in decline too and now results have caught up with that in the form of a home draw to Livingston and defeat in Perth. Rangers haven't wielded the axe very often on their managers but there's debate rumbling on if and when that could happen here. Record Sport takes a look at how the last managerial departures at Ibrox played out, not including figures like Steven Gerrard, who weren't forced to leave.

Graeme Murty

The last man to face the chop as first team manager at Rangers was Graeme Murty. After previous spells as caretaker, he was given the reigns until the end of the 2017/18 season following Pedro Caixinha's exit (more on him shortly). It was a dreadful season overall for the Light Blues who finished third, but things started positively with eight wins from his first 11 games after being appointed on December 22nd, although defeats to Kilmarnock and Hibs were warning signs.

Back-to-back defeats at Ibrox against Celtic and Killie brought pressure, with a draw away at Motherwell making it mount. A 5-0 battering against their rivals meant he missed out on the last three games of the season after being 'relieved of his duties' two days after the beating. He took time to consider his options and eventually returned to his academy post at the club, and fully left Rangers last year. Sunderland now have him as an elite youth coach, an area of the game where Murty's stock is high.

Pedro Caixinha

Perhaps the most infamous Rangers manager on this list. The Portuguese boss' reign in Govan was chaotic from minute one to the final whistle after being confirmed as gaffer in March 2017. He oversaw a record home defeat for the club against Celtic, by a 5-1 scoreline, and lost to Aberdeen at Ibrox for the first time in 26 year, finishing 39 points behind top spot.

His first 'full' season didn't start well either as he found himself in a bush as they were embarrassed by Progres Niederkorn and then in the Hampden stand as Motherwell stunned them 2-0 in the October 2017 League Cup semi-final. Caixinha was given his jotters the day after drawing 1-1 at home with Kilmarnock on a miserable midweek night at Ibrox, with Murty in to replace him. Last spotted at Talleres in Argentina.

Mark Warburton

Now, there's a bit of debate around this one as both parties have different views on the situation. But after taking over in June 2015, the current West Ham coach's spell in the hot-seat ended on a fiery Friday February night 2017. It was the club's first season back in Scotland's top flight and a shocking run of one win in seven games ensued over the winter, but he left on February 10, almost a week after a draw versus Ross County and just 48 hours before a Scottish Cup tie against Morton.

Warburton (SNS Group)

Rangers claimed they accepted the resignations of Warburton, assistant David Weir and head of recruitment Frank McParland in February 2017. But the 60-year-old thinks differently.

He told BBC earlier this year: "I literally turned on Sky Sports and I saw this yellow headline. My phone started jumping. I'm thinking, what's this? 'Mark Warburton resigns as Rangers manager'. I phoned [Rangers assistant manager at the time] Davie Weir, 'Davie, I think I've just been sacked. He said, 'so have I' and I said, 'why is that?'

"And I looked at the television again and it said: 'David Weir also resigns'. Then I get a text saying 'please look at your email account, we accept your resignation'. I have no idea what you're talking about. And that was it."

Ally McCoist

The club's favourite son took charge of the club in May 2011 at its darkest hour loomed and was soon tasked with guiding them back from League Two to the Premiership. Even with all his achievements as a player and high status at Ibrox, even he couldn't escape from feeling the heat in the manager's chair.

He left a day off the back of a 2-0 win over Livingston, but already trailing behind Hearts in the Championship title race after two draws with Alloa and a loss to Queen of the South, it was agreed 'we feel it is now in the best interests of all parties to move on.' His exit was slightly different to the rest though, in that McCoist was place on gardening leave as Rangers eventually failed to get out the second tier via a play-off against Motherwell.

Paul le Guen

The Frenchman's reign lasted just 240 days as he incurred the worst win percentage rate since Jock Wallace during the 1980s. He had his team undefeated in the UEFA Cup but domestic results were poor. He'd lost six domestic games - two against Inverness - before Christmas but kicked off a good run of form with a 2-0 win over Motherwell on January 2nd, before his exit two days later.

From that game onwards, Rangers lost just twice as Walter Smith returned to the club, but the build-up to it set the chains in motion for his departure. Barry Ferguson was stripped of the captaincy and dropped him for the trip to Fir Park and Gers were 17 points adrift before things ended with the dreaded 'mutual consent' tag.

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