Rangers sack manager Beale after Saturday's 3-1 loss to Aberdeen
Move comes after growing unrest, despite a run of four wins going into the weekend
Steven Davis takes interim charge
Todd Cantwell, the currently injured midfielder brought to Rangers from Norwich City in January, has taken to social media to personally thank sacked manager Michael Beale for his role in taking him to Ibrox.
Image source, InstagramFormer Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson is another who thinks Michael Beale's sacking was not a major surprise.
"It’s never nice to see someone lose their job and I know Michael personally," Thomson told BBC Radio Scotland.
"It’s a club close to my heart that I want to see do well, whoever’s in charge. When I worked in there at B team level, I got good insight into Michael and Steven Gerrard.
"I just think it was inevitable really, when the fans start to turn and unfortunately the results started to go against him as well. It’s a sorry case when you’re winning a game against Motherwell and getting booed off the pitch.
“I think the writing was on the wall and to back that up with another disappointment against Aberdeen, it was almost impossible for the board not to act."
Image source, SNSKevin Thomson is a commentator on Rangers TV
Remember we said earlier that, when Michael Beale took over at the end of November, the gap to Celtic was nine points?
Just seven into this season and that bridge stands at seven, with Rangers not even in second spot. Of course, it's early days and Celtic were a tad fortunate one could say with their win on Saturday over Motherwell at Fir Park, so anything can happen.
But it's a big job for whoever walks through the front door at Ibrox in the coming days or weeks.
Image source, BBC SportHands up if you have a big smile on your face as you arrive at work on a Monday morning.
It's even less likely if you are a footballer having just suffered a home defeat by Aberdeen and the sacking of your boss.
No surprise then if there was a sombre mood as players and coaches arrived at Rangers' training centre this morning.
Image source, SNSForward Sam Lammers had a haunted look as he arrived at Rangers' training centre
Image source, SNSInjured striker Danilo also looked downbeat
Kevin Thomson thinks Steven Davis will have learned much about football management from former Rangers manager Walter Smith.
Both Davis and Thomson started the Uefa Cup final defeat by Zenit St Petersburg in 2008.
"We were both lucky to work under Walter Smith, who was the best of the best really," Thomson said.
"So as an individual you get to learn these wee traits and get an insight into what the club means and the way you should conduct yourself when you represent it. When it comes to that, Davis will be like a duck to water."
Image source, SNSSteven Davis and Kevin Thomson were Rangers team-mates
Former Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson says Steven Davis will adapt easily to his role as the club’s interim manager despite his former midfield colleague's lack of managerial experience.
"Steven Davis is a top man and he’s held in the highest esteem by the fans," Thomson told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland.
"He’s a calm character, he’s a thinker and very articulate. I’m pretty sure he’ll be disappointed to see Michael [Beale] and his staff move on because he’s got a heart like us all.
"It’s quite difficult when you’ve been a team-mate and you’re so highly respected by the players to then go and ruffle a few feathers. He’ll need to get a reaction and I’m pretty sure the players will be desperate to play for him and put the wrongs right."
Image source, Craig Foy - SNS GroupWant a bit of Light Blues relief?
Can you order Rangers managers, some of them interim appointments, from longest to shortest serving?
Click this link here if you think your informed enough...
Jane Lewis
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland understands that Rangers will take their time as they look for someone to replace Michael Beale - and they have every confidence that they interim management team can be in position for as long as that process takes.
As of last night, we also believe that nobody has been approached as Rangers start the search for a new manager.
We also understand the club are happy that between the interim coaching staff they have the correct Uefa licence for managing/coaching in Europe as they prepare to face Aris Limassol on Thursday.
Steven Davis and his interim team don't have much time to get to grips with the task in hand at Ibrox.
There's two games in the next week as the Glasgow side head for Cyprus to face Aris Limassol in the Europa League before a short jaunt to Paisley to take on St Mirren in the Premiership.
Then comes the international break when Davis - or maybe a permanent boss by then? - has a bit of time to work with the group before getting back to it at home to Hibernian.
Image source, BBC SportSo how did Michael Beale's start to the season compare to his two predecessors?
The answer: Better than Steven Gerrard when he first took charge but significantly worse than the former England midfielder's following seasons and the one under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Image source, BBC SportRangers signed 11 players under Michael Beale, including nine during the summer transfer window.
A combination of poor form and injuries have dogged those players, with Todd Cantwell, Danilo, Kieran Dowell and Nico Raskin currently sidelined and forwards Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers managing just four goals between them.
Goalkeeper Jack Butland has impressed, while Abdallah Sima has scored five times since the forward joined on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, while Dujon Sterling and the returning fellow defender Leon Balogun have only been used sparingly. Midfielder Jose Cifuentes has only started consistently of late.
Image source, SNSCyriel Dessers has netted three times in 13 Rangers appearances
Former Rangers midfielder Alex Rae has arrived at the club's training ground this morning to begin his spell assisting caretaker boss Steven Davis.
The 54-year-old, who was with Rangers from 2004-06, has recently been working as a TV and radio pundit but has plenty of coaching experience behind him.
Rae had short-lived spells in charge of Dundee and St Mirren and most recently was assistant to Paul Ince at Reading until the pair were sacked in April.
Image source, SNSSteven Davis is the man to whom Rangers have turned to lead their interim management team.
The 38-year-old midfielder last played for the Ibrox side in December, having since been on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.
Davis joined Rangers for a second time in 2019 and has made more than 370 appearances for the club.
He also has a wealth of international experience, having earned a record 140 caps for Northern Ireland.
Considering my grandmother on my Montgomery side was born in his home town of Ballymena, I've got to wish him well in his new role!
Image source, SNSSteven Davis has not played since December
Rangers fans look away now - unless you are into some self-flagellation.
Nevertheless, you can click below to watch Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen, a result that finally triggered Michael Beale's exit from Ibrox.
An overhaul of the Rangers squad followed this summer, with the likes of talismen Allan McGregor, Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent departing.
Nine players have come in, including Danilo, Sam Lammers and Jack Butland. However, an opening-day defeat away to Kilmarnock, coupled with further poor results and injuries, conspired to mean Beale's tenure lasted just 307 days.
It's the shortest tenure of a permanent manager since Pedro Caixinha. Remember him?
The Portuguese was in the job for just 227 days, in case you were wondering.
Michael Beale's tenure is one of the shortest of any Rangers manager. Indeed, he didn't even last a year.
It was on 28 November that the deal was done to bring the man who was formerly Steven Gerrard's Rangers coach back to Ibrox. He took over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who despite getting Rangers a Scottish Cup and into the Europa League final the previous season, couldn't keep his job after a nightmare Champions League campaign.
At the time of Beale's arrival, Rangers were adrift of Celtic by nine points. By the end of the season, that margin had narrowed by only two points as Ange Postecoglou's team swept to a domestic treble.
Image source, SNSMy colleague, Andy Campbell, perfectly sums up how Michael Beale's spell as Rangers manager went from early promise to disintegration amid some crucial and dismal defeats.
Read more here.
Image source, SNSMichael Beale looked distraught in Rangers' dugout as his side lost to Aberdeen on Saturday
And here's what our Sportscene team made of that pivotal defeat by Aberdeen on Saturday...
'Rangers slow, ponderous & lack athleticism in attack'
Speaking before Michael Beale's sacking, former Rangers winger Neil McCann and fellow Sportscene pundit Michael Stewart argued that the Englishman's recruitment has been at the heart of Rangers' struggles this season.
Beale 'only has himself to blame' for Rangers problems
There had been a feeling of discontent among the Rangers support for some time, potentially going all the way back to before the international break.
During a crucial week a month ago, the Ibrox side were dumped out of the Champions League play-offs by PSV Eindhoven in a Dutch collapse, with a Premiership defeat at home to Celtic coming just a matter of days later.
Four wins followed, but even that wasn't enough to settle some in the Ibrox support.
A nervy 1-0 home win over Motherwell was greeted with booing at full-time and a convincing 4-0 League Cup win over Livingston in midweek was quickly forgotten about as Aberdeen left Ibrox with a 3-1 win yesterday.