Philippe Clement’s time as Rangers manager has come to an end after the Ibrox club officially ended his 16-month tenure on Sunday evening. Clement’s position at Rangers was already in serious jeopardy following an embarrassing Scottish Cup exit at the hands of second-tier Queen’s Park earlier this month and despite a public show of support from chief executive Patrick Stewart earlier in the week, Saturday’s 2-0 loss at home to St Mirren was the final straw for many within the Ibrox hierarchy. Talks at board level took place on Saturday evening and throughout Sunday in the wake of losing to the Buddies for the first time at home since 1991 and the decision was taken to remove Clement. Rangers will need to shell out a hefty compensation package for the Belgian, who signed a contract extension until the summer of 2028 just last August. Rangers had hoped to give the 51-year-old, who took over at Rangers from Michael Beale in October 2023, more time to turn his team’s ailing fortunes around as they bid to fix deeper issues within the Ibrox framework, but will almost all of the fanbase turning against Clement, there was no way back for the former Monaco and Club Brugge boss. Rangers currently trail leaders Celtic by 13 points in the Premiership and having lost the Premier Sports Cup final to their Old Firm rivals last December and their premature Scottish Cup exit, they will end the current campaign trophyless on the domestic front. Clement’s best work this season has been done in Europe after he guided them to a top-eight finish in the Europa League. Rangers had anticipated the Belgian presiding over the last-16 tie against Fenerbahce, but the latest defeat exhausted any lingering credit he had left in the bank. Rangers are next in action on Wednesday night when they travel to Kilmarnock in the Premiership. The club is yet to decide who will lead the team at Rugby Park. A statement from Rangers confirming Clement’s departure read: “Rangers Football Club can confirm it has tonight parted company with men’s first-team manager, Philippe Clement. “The club would like to put on record their sincere thanks to Philippe for his hard work and dedication during his spell in charge. “A further update from the club will follow in due course.” Thoughts will now turn to who Rangers will choose as Clement’s successor. The Ibrox outfit are searching for their fourth permanent manager in as many years and are desperate for stability after shelling out hefty compensation packages to Beale and Giovanni van Bronckhorst before him. The waters are further muddied by a proposed takeover of Rangers by a franchise backed by American Football side San Francisco 49ers. It emerged earlier this week that a consortium that is reported to include Leeds United supremo Paraag Marathe and Andrew Cavenagh are already in negotiations with shareholders to take a controlling stake in the club. While a timeline has not been set out for the deal, any potential investors are expected to have a say in who will come in to the Ibrox dugout. Former manager Steven Gerrard, who recently left Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, is the early favourite to succeed Clement, while Russell Martin, Sean Dyche, Gary O’Neil and Kevin Muscat also feature prominently in lists compiled by bookmakers.