Rangers announced on Friday that manager Mark Warburton has left the club.
Rangers announced a major shock on Friday evening, as they confirmed on their official website that manager Mark Warburton has left the club.
The Gers released a statement claiming that Warburton – along with assistant manager David Weir and recruitment chief Frank McParland – have left the club having tendered their resignations.
Former Rangers manager Mark Warburton
It doesn’t appear to be quite that simple though; Warburton later told The Scottish Sun that Rangers’ statement was ‘scandalous’, as he hasn’t in fact resigned, but the Daily Record report that Rangers have called his bluff after an agent attempted to broker a deal to get Warburton, Weir and McParland out of Ibrox, before returning 24 hours later in an attempt to get all three to stay.
This is scandalous: Mark Warburton reacts to Rangers’ statement concerning his Ibrox future
Rangers have decided to accept what they believe was a resignation from all three, and Warburton’s time at Ibrox appears to be over, less than two years since arriving to take the reins.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes
Warburton, who had left Brentford at the end of the 2014-15 season, took over from Stuart McCall at Ibrox, and not only guided the club to promotion from the Scottish Premiership last season, but also oversaw a remarkable Scottish Cup semi-final win over Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Chris Sutton reacts to Mark Warburton’s Ibrox departure, criticises two Rangers men
Expectations were high heading into this season, but this season has been something of a disappointment, as Rangers sit in third place in the Scottish Premiership, 27 points behind league leaders Celtic, with many actually expecting Warburton to be under threat of the sack.
Warburton has now gone, one way or another, and fans have been taking to Twitter since the shock announcement to give their views on his departure.
Many thanked Warburton for the work he did last season, particularly the win over Celtic, suggesting that he wasn’t backed well enough by the board – but others believe that Warburton never had the winning mentality that Rangers need, and felt his time at the club was up.
The topic of his replacement has also stirred up plenty of debate, with fans unhappy with reports of interest in Alex McLeish and Billy Davies, though Frank de Boer and Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes seem to be more popular candidates to replace Warburton in the Ibrox hot seat.
Who would you like to see replace Warburton at Ibrox?
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