Ex-Celtic man Steve Kean sympathised with former Glasgow Rangers boss Graeme Murty after his stint at Ibrox ended last month.
Former Premier League boss and Celtic winger Steve Kean has admitted to The Daily Mail that he felt sorry for Graeme Murty at Rangers last season.
Murty was sacked by Rangers toward the end of the 2017-18 campaign and swiftly replaced by Steven Gerrard.
Murty, who had stood in for Pedro Caixinha on an interim basis since October, was never the Gers’ long-term solution and his contract only ran until last month.
That being said, there were times when the former Reading defender looked to be in with a shout of earning the permanent position at Ibrox, but a dismal last couple of months – including Premiership and Scottish Cup defeats by Celtic – put paid to his chances.
Kean knows a thing or two about the uncertainty which Murty constantly faced, having endured a turbulent stint with Blackburn Rovers seven years ago, and the former Celtic ace, who spent two years on the Hoops’ books, concedes that he sympathised with the 43-year-old.
“I did feel for him. It was similar to what happened when I got it on a temporary basis [at Blackburn] initially,” he told The Mail.
“In Graeme’s case, it was all about who will the next manager be.
“Each time there’s a good result he’s put himself in with a better shout. Each time there’s a bad result it was: So, is this your last game? It’s hard.”
The writing was probably on the wall for Murty after Rangers lost 4-0 to Celtic in a Scottish Cup semi-final in April, with senior Gers players Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace subjecting their then-manager to post-match abuse which resulted in their suspensions.
But it was always going to be difficult to come back from that and time will tell whether Gerrard is any better than Murty.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
