Michael Beale has paid the ultimate price for a start to the season that the club says has “fallen short of what everyone connected to Rangers would expect”.
Beale’s side lost three of their seven Scottish Premiership games – including a derby defeat at home to Celtic – and were thrashed by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League play-off.
Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Aberdeen was a third defeat in seven, leaving Rangers floundering seven points behind leaders Celtic, and proved the final straw for the Ibrox hierarchy as they pulled the plug on a manager who was given freedom to oversee an extensive squad rebuild in the summer.
Beale’s reign lasted just 10 months, with chairman John Bennett saying: “I’d like to thank Michael for his dedicated work since he rejoined the club as manager last November.
“It is clear that results have fallen well short of the board’s, Michael’s and our supporters’ expectations.