A FAILED football manager normally leaves a club with the abuse of disgruntled fans and criticism of former players and media pundits ringing in his ears.
But as Graeme Murty, who vacated the role he had performed at Rangers for six turbulent months first thing this morning after a brief meeting with managing director Stewart Robertson, departs it is the club directors, specifically chairman and major shareholder Dave King, who find themselves in the firing line.
The departure of Murty, one of six men to have occupied the Ibrox hotseat in the last three and a half years, is certainly not being mourned by supporters.
Their patience with the 43-year-old, who moved from his position as head development squad coach for the second time in seven months back in October when Pedro Caixinha was sacked, ran out long ago.
The 5-0 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead on Sunday was the nadir of a tenure that started shakily, improved dramatically and then ended disastrously. He had hoped to secure the position on a long-term basis by recording a draw or even a victory. But there was no prospect of him surviving such an abject humiliation.
The scoreline at the weekend was Rangers’ worst in a league game against their city rivals and it was a minor miracle, so inept was their display, so easily were they swatted aside by their opponents, it did not end up as their worst ever.
It was impossible not to conclude the former Scotland internationalist was a good bloke who deserved great credit for stepping up when the Glasgow club and who embraced the challenge he faced wholeheartedly, but who was, having never managed before, hopelessly out of his depth.
His revelation that his players had cheered in the dressing room following their 4-1 win over Ladbrokes Championship strugglers Falkirk back in March when they heard they had been drawn to play Celtic in the semi-final was ill-considered and came back to haunt them.
They were steamrollered by Brendan Rodgers’s men the last four fixture at Hampden last month and ended up losing 4-0 – their heaviest defeat to their age-old adversaries at the national stadium since the final of the same competition way back in 1969.
Yet, his chances of doing well enough between now and the end of the season to get the job on a permanent basis - which were slim enough given the mess he inherited following the ill-fated Caixinha experiment – were not helped by the actions of those who run the club.
Yes, he was backed during the January transfer window and allowed to bring in Greg Docherty and Declan John on permanent deals as well as Jason Cummings, Sean Goss, Russell Martin and Jamie Murphy.
But Dave King releasing a statement in the week leading up the cup semi-final saying that whoever was appointed manager in the summer needed to be able to deliver “immediate success” – the clear insinuation being that man would not be Murty – must have undermined his authority in the dressing room.
Did it contribute to the almighty bust-up that took place in the changing room after the semi-final loss? It certainly wouldn’t have helped.
That altercation led to captain Lee Wallace and vice-captain Kenny Miller being suspended two days later. Murty admitted last week that he had needed to deal with a “problem in the dressing room”. But did the uncertainty over his future contribute to senior players questioning his authority? Again, it will have been a factor.
When it emerged last week that Rangers had held talks with England and Liverpool great Steven Gerrard about the manager’s position it will have made his job even more difficult and effectively ended his hopes of avoiding defeat to Celtic on Sunday.
Rangers drew their first two Old Firm games under Murty at Parkhead last year and were, after Alfredo Morelos passed up a late sitter, only narrowly beaten at Ibrox back in March.
But they were blown away by Rodgers’s charges twice in a fortnight - after King had made his injudicious pronouncement and news of the contact with Gerrard had broken.
It is no wonder that many in the game have rallied behind him and united in their condemnation of both the circumstances he has had to work in and those responsible since. Just yesterday Rodgers declared his opposite number had been “thrown to the garbage” and “under the bus” by his superiors while Billy Dodds said he had been “used and abused”.
The former Reading right back undoubtedly made mistakes. Tactically, he was found to be wanting on more than one occasion. But what did Rangers expect when they turned to the novice? Arsene Wenger? Of course he was going to be found wanting at times.
But what more could he have done with what he had to work with. Rangers are still paying a high price for their absurd decision to appoint Caixinha, an unheralded manager working for a mid-table club in football backwater Qatar, and then, despite seeing the team regress badly in the final months of last season and him struggle to cope with the demands of the high-profile position, handing him £8 million to spend on new players in the close season.
Bruno Alves, Fabio Cardoso, Dalcio, Graham Dorrans,. Eduardo Herrera and Carlos Pena have all been massive, not to mention extremely expensive, flops. Would anyone else have done any better than Murty with that bunch to work with? It is debatable.
It is unquestionably the right decision for Murty to move on for both the man and Rangers. But perhaps it is time for a few of those who occupy the directors’ box on match days to consider their own positions. They, too, have done little to suggest they are fit for purpose.
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