FOR some time, perhaps even since the beginning, it has been a matter of when rather than if. The fans knew it, the players knew it and, deep down, Graeme Murty knew it as well.

It was always going to end, but neither Murty nor Rangers wanted it to happen like this. At Ibrox, nothing is done as is should be these days, though.

Three times Murty was asked to bail Rangers out and three times, perhaps against his better judgement and his gut instinct, he said yes. He answered the calls of duty, but his tours have been traumatic at times.

It is no sleight on Murty to say that, right now, he isn’t cut out to be Rangers manager. Few people are at a club where the dreams can juxtapose the reality at times.

He found himself in a position that quickly consumed him as he was left in a whirlpool of issues, few of which were of his making, that dragged him down as he battled to keep his head above water.

At 43, and with only a handful of games at first team level to his credit after he replaced Mark Warburton last year, it was no surprise that Murty’s inexperience told in recent months as he stepped in following the sacking of Pedro Caixinha.

He isn’t a Rangers boss, but he has shown enough to suggest he can do a job somewhere else once he recovers from the series of body blows he has taken and had time to evaluate where it all went wrong. There were highs, but the lows will have hurt Murty.

The pain and disappointment of losing his job, of being unable to lead Rangers, will take its toll, but this is for the best. There was no way he could face the media this week, no way he could stand on the touchline against Kilmarnock at Ibrox, never mind at Pittodrie or Easter Road as Rangers stumbled towards the end of an embarrassing, disastrous campaign.

Hours before the meeting with Stewart Robertson that ended his tenure as manager, Murty was at Firhill to see the Under-17 side beat Celtic to lift the Glasgow Cup.

After sitting in the Main Stand to watch the action, he offered his congratulations to the coaches he used to work alongside in the Academy and the players that are striving to reach the 20s squad that he, surely, won’t manage again.

He also took time to commiserate those in green and white. It may have been scant consolation for the Celtic players, but it was a mark of the man that Murty was on hand to offer a word of encouragement or put an arm around a slumped shoulder.

It is hard not to have sympathy for him. Some of his public utterances have been mistimed and ill-judged and contributed to his plummeting approval rating, but he was always respectful, both of those around him and of his position. He was learning on the job at a club in a state of flux and in a position that would have tested far more experienced operators.

That doesn’t mean he should be absolved of condemnation, however. Some of the rhetoric against him may have been excessive, but Murty is far from blameless at the state of shambles that Rangers find themselves in at present.

He will reflect on the mistakes he made and wish he had done things differently. Some errors were costlier than others, but all – from tactical to mental - contributed to the confirmation that he wasn’t the man to lead the Light Blues next term.

Found wanting in the dressing room at times, found out against Celtic, Murty wasn’t what Rangers needed right now. Those that hired him, those that chose not to fire him earlier, should be eternally grateful for his efforts, however.

His job should have been done some time ago but after failing to get Derek McInnes to put pen-to-paper, Rangers had to turn to Murty once again. If he knew then what he knows now, he would surely have said thanks, but no thanks.

The hand he was dealt by his bosses would have had others folding from the off but Murty played on, the lustre of being Rangers manager seemingly too great to give up, even though there has always appeared to be serious self-doubt behind his upbeat persona.

Murty never enjoyed a position of strength at Ibrox and he was let down by those in the dressing room and the boardroom, his future continually up for debate and his chances of keeping his job undermined by those who could earn him it.

In many ways he was Rangers manager in name only from the day he was unveiled. There was no top table in the Blue Room or pictures taken in the Trophy Room. Instead, a press release was dished out to the media ahead of his scheduled press conference at thee training ground as the post-Caixinha farce came to a somewhat fitting conclusion.

For all his faults, Murty wasn’t the main problem at Rangers. He was a victim of circumstances and those that berated him and mocked him should have offered support when he needed it most.

He was pressed, almost on a weekly basis at times, over his position but it was only last week that he was bullish about his ambitions and his chances of remaining at the helm.

By that time, it was too late. He had lost the backing of his players, the goodwill of the supporters and the faith of a board who had already started courting Steven Gerrard to replace him.

Murty has been used as a shield in recent months, put up to take the flak from an increasingly disillusioned and disgruntled support as Rangers have gone from potential title challengers to, perhaps, the fourth best side in the Premiership at an alarming rate.

With him gone, more of the focus will shift to Robertson, the Managing Director, and Director of Football Mark Allen as their roles, their efforts, are scrutinised. The coming months will be defining for both, and for chairman Dave King.

It is at those that put Murty in place and then left him there that the anger should be directed. He did his best, which wasn’t good enough, but have those above him?

If Rangers had been functioning properly, had been conducting their business as it should have been done, Murty may have had a shot at achieving what he set out to. Treated shabbily, he never stood a chance.

The feeling amongst supporters in December was that Rangers had effectively given up on the remainder of the campaign by leaving their 20s coach in charge rather than appointing a manager. Few are surprised at how this has culminated and the protests will grow louder if answers, and signs of progress, are not forthcoming sooner rather than later.

Once again, Rangers are back at square one. The fans say that they deserve better. So does Graeme Murty.