Rangers sack Pedro Caixinha as manager after seven months in charge

Rangers are on the hunt for a manager for the second time this year after Pedro Caixinha’s turbulent tenure was unsurprisingly brought to an end on Thursday.

The 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock on Wednesday, in which Rangers conceded the equaliser five minutes into injury time, proved too much for the club’s board in the immediate aftermath of the League Cup semi-final defeat by Motherwell on Sunday. During a short and hastily arranged meeting, it was decided to sack the Portuguese.

Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes, Tommy Wright of St Johnstone, the Northern Ireland manager, Michael O’Neill, plus Alex McLeish, who managed Rangers between 2001 and 2006, have been named as early candidates.

“The decision to part company with Pedro was taken after careful consideration and the search for a new manager will begin immediately,” the club said in a statement. “Pedro was appointed in March this year but results have been disappointing and not commensurate with the level of investment that was made available.

“The priority is to appoint a new manager as quickly as possible but the board will take as much time as is necessary to secure the right person capable of representing Rangers and providing the brand of football [our] supporters rightly expect.”

Graeme Murty, who also took on the role of caretaker before Caixinha’s appointment, is expected to take charge for Saturday’stmatch with Heart of Midlothian at Murrayfield. Three of Caixinha’s coaches – Hélder Baptista, Pedro Malta and José Belman – have also left.

Before his arrival from Qatar to succeed Mark Warburton, Caixinha had failed to hold down any coaching position for a concerted period of time. He won 14 of his 26 games in charge, which represents an ominous ratio for a Rangers manager. The 46-year-old also presided over some humiliations – Celtic cantered to a 5-1 win at Ibrox in April, and his side were bundled out of Europe by Progrès Niederkorn, of Luxembourg, to start this season.

Nonetheless, Caixinha was given relatively substantial sums to try to close the gap with Celtic. Despite the arrivals of Bruno Alves, Graham Dorrans and others, Caixinha leaves with the team fourth in the top flight and eight points adrift of the champions after 10 games.

There was also a recent and curious standoff between Caixinha and one of his most senior players, Kenny Miller. The manager had informed Miller, Lee Wallace and Niko Kranjcar not to attend the Kilmarnock match as they were not part of the first-team squad.

Murty will have support in some quarters in respect of taking the position permanently. However, and notwithstanding financial pressures, a more experienced manager is likely to be appointed.