Rangers are set to sack manager Philippe Clement after back-to-back defeats at Ibrox.
The Belgian had come under extreme pressure since the humiliating Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Queen’s Park a fortnight ago.
Saturday’s 2-1 Premiership defeat to St Mirren proved to be the final straw for the Rangers board who have now decided to swing the axe.
Clement, 50, admitted afterwards that his team’s performance was ‘by far the worst I’ve seen in all the time I’ve been here’.
His ensuing departure follows news that an American consortium are in talks with the club over a potential takeover which could take place before the end of the current season.
The former Club Brugge and Monaco boss succeeded Michael Beale in October 2023 and led the team to a League Cup triumph two months after his appointment.
He also briefly hauled them into title contention last season, but they eventually finished eight points adrift of Celtic and he was unable to recapture the promising form of his early months in the job.
Although he led Rangers to the last 16 of the Europa League, where they will face Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce next month, Clement will vacate the position with Rangers 13 points adrift of city rivals Celtic at the top of the league and likely to end the season without a domestic trophy.
Speaking after Saturday’s defeat to the Paisley side, with Rangers having failed to take advantage of Celtic’s loss to Hibs earlier in the afternoon, Clement was not his usual bullish self despite insisting he would fight on.
Asked about his future, he said: ‘Those are the things the board needs to decide. In the end, I believe these players want to do the right thing.
‘I believe I can get results with these players. But I am also very disappointed with what we showed today – and I am responsible for that.
‘Today was by far not the performance that we have seen in the past. It was by far the worst performance from my time here.’
The decision to sack Clement comes just seven months after the Ibrox club handed him a new one-year contract extension.
Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart publicly backed the manager last month despite growing pressure from supporters for him to go.
Stewart insisted that his previous role as CEO at Manchester United had shown him that constant managerial change did not work, but he also warned the Belgian that results must improve, with no ‘cast-iron guarantees’ offered.
In the wake of the Queen’s Park defeat, Stewart again publicly supported the Belgian last week, saying the club could jeopardise their Europa League run if the manager was to be sacked.
Now, however, the club have decided to act and will be looking for their fifth permanent manager since November 2021.
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