Chris Sutton, the former Celtic striker and current BT Sport pundit, has insisted that if he were in Graeme Murty’s shoes he would “not go near the place” again after maintaining that the Rangers caretaker manager was sold out by Ibrox chairman Dave King.

Believing that Rangers’ implosion could cost them not just second place but a European spot next season, Sutton has criticised the lack of leadership throughout the club.

There are five league games for Murty to negotiate between now and the end of the season, starting with Hearts at Ibrox on Sunday. If it feels like a death watch to some observers, Sutton was unambiguous about what he would do were he in the shoes of Murty.

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The club have been back in soap opera territory this week with the suspensions of striker Kenny Miller and club captain Lee Wallace following a dressing room altercation in the aftermath of Sunday’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.

“There has been a lot of talk from Rangers as a whole in the last season or two but they don’t back it up with anything on the pitch,” said Sutton.

“If you are a Rangers fan, you are scratching your head as to how Rangers can go forward from this.

“What is the plan? It’s all up in the air and Dave King has to take responsibility for this. There was the whole issue of how Pedro Caixinha got the job, who interviewed him - that whole situation was an embarrassment and a sham.

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“Then you get to Graeme Murty who was thrown in at the deep end and then undermined before a crucial game - he (King) basically said he didn’t trust him to take it on next season. That was needless.

“All the way through the club, they need to take a look at themselves.”

And the pundit has insisted that Murty is within his rights to walk away for the debacle now before doing further damage to his own reputation.

“Why would he hang around?” he said.

“This is a guy who went to Rangers as head development coach to try and further his coaching career, to build and gain experience.

“He is then launched in at the deep end. What has happened in the last week, you can see it is a toxic place.

“He’s not been backed from the hierarchy, then for the players to turn with the whole suspension thing this week tells its own story. He has been undermined.

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“There is no way back. Why on earth would he want to stay there and see players around who have let him down? If that was me, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere near the place.”

Sutton has maintained that the onus is on Rangers to show some kind of reaction to this week's drama when they host Hearts at Ibrox this Sunday.

“Do I think Rangers are in danger of missing out on Europe? Yes, I do but it is still in their hands," he said. "I mean one result at the weekend, one performance and everything has unravelled. This is the same group of players who at times this season have performed ok but you just wonder when everything is thrown into the mix how Rangers are going to respond. They have to respond but with the turmoil that has been there this season you wouldn’t put anything past them.

Derek [McInnes] was critical of his own recruitment policy over the last summer so the race is well and truly on. Hibs still have to close the gap in terms of points which means that they will 100% want to beat Celtic at the weekend. They will want to get back into the mix, then they’ll have the head-to-heads and they will define who finishes in Europe."

Hibs v Celtic will be shown live on BT Sports this Saturday, 12pm.