Rangers have announced the almost inevitable departure of Michael Beale and have put club favourite Steven Davis in charge.

Calls for Beale’s departure increased following the 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen at Ibrox on Saturday, with the players again booed off the park.

A third loss in seven cinch Premiership fixtures left the Light Blues seven points behind leaders Celtic and with their title hopes already in jeopardy.

Ahead of the Europa League tie against Aris Limassol in Cyprus on Thursday night, the Ibrox club released a statement which outlined the changes.

It read: “Rangers can confirm it has parted company with men’s first-team manager Michael Beale.

“The Rangers board would like to put on record their thanks to Michael and his staff for their efforts since joining the club last November.

“Results this season have fallen short of what everyone connected to Rangers would expect.

“Therefore, the decision was reached today to terminate the contract of the manager, as well as the contracts of coaches Neil Banfield, Damian Matthew, Harry Watling and Jack Ade.

“The club is pleased to announce that Steven Davis will lead the interim management team.

“The team will consist of former Rangers player and hugely experienced coach Alex Rae, former player and current coach Steven Smith, coach Brian Gilmour and goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart.”

Rangers chairman John Bennett said: “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.

“The search process for the new manager is already under way. I wish Steven Davis and the interim management team every success – they will remain in charge for as long as it takes to make the right appointment.”

Former midfielder Davis’ contract expired at the end of last season but the club had been letting him use the facilities for his rehabilitation following a serious knee injury.

It is understood the new management team have all the required UEFA badges to lead Rangers into their European match on Thursday.

Beale never recovered from the 1-0 defeat by an under-strength Hoops side at Ibrox last month, with four subsequent wins in three different competitions doing little to appease disgruntled supporters.

Beale revamped his squad in the summer but new signings such as Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, Dujon Sterling and Jose Cifuentes have failed to impress.

In mitigation, injuries robbed him of Danilo, Todd Cantwell, Kieran Dowell, Nico Raskin, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Kemar Roofe for various lengths of time with Ryan Jack and Ridvan Yilmaz picking up injuries against the Dons.

Beale, who was first-team coach at Rangers under Steven Gerrard, took over in the Ibrox hotseat in November 2022, following the departure of Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The popular Davis, capped 140 times for Northern Ireland, rejoined Rangers from Southampton in 2019 following another loan spell at Ibrox.

He had initially joined Rangers from Fulham in 2008, after a first loan spell in Govan.