Philippe Clement conceded that he knew his Rangers future was all but decided after their defeat to Old Firm rivals Celtic in the Scottish League Cup final. 

Clement was sacked back in February after a shock 2-0 loss to St. Mirren, leaving them 13 points behind eventual Premiership champions Celtic. 

Rangers had won each of their previous five league games before that home defeat to the Buddies, though pressure surrounding his position had been building for some time. 

The 50-year-old had guided the club to the last 16 of the Europa League, with Rangers eventually losing at the quarter-final stage to Athletic Bilbao in April. 

Barry Ferguson was placed in interim charge until the end of the season but Rangers ended their league campaign 17 points behind Brendan Rodgers' side. 

But Clement believes that his team's shoot-out defeat to Celtic in the League Cup final in December was the beginning of the end of his time at Ibrox. 

After the teams could not be separated at 3-3 following 120 minutes of action, Celtic emerged victorious on penalties, with Daizen Maeda scoring the match-winning spot-kick. 

"I had a feeling, a bad feeling, after the League Cup final," Clement told BBC Sport Scotland. "I think it was a vital game. 

"If we had won, there would have been more patience with the fans also and the board could have stayed much calmer."

Celtic have won 14 of the last 15 league titles, a run that has also included five domestic trebles, further signifying their dominance in Scotland. 

And despite their superiority, Clement believes that if Rangers had given him time, he could have closed the gap to Rodgers' team in the coming seasons. 

"It's a pity that the story stopped, that the board didn't have the patience, or maybe listened too much to some fans," Clement added. 

"There are other clubs where there is a difficult moment and everybody sticks together because everybody knows the story, how the work is done inside the building, and they continue, and they are successful afterwards.

"In three or four windows, we could have closed the gap [to Celtic] with a good development of players, but the decision is made, and you need to accept it."

Clement left with a record of 55 wins from his 86 games in charge, drawing 16 and losing 15.