Rangers
On 11 March 2006, it was confirmed that Paul Le Guen had agreed to replace Alex McLeish as manager of Rangers starting in the 2006-07 season. Rangers chairman David Murray predicted Le Guen's capture would be followed by "a massive moonbeam of success" coming to the club.[3] Le Guen signed a 3 year contract [4][5] with the option to extend his stay at Ibrox,[2] and quickly acquired a number of players.
However, Le Guen made a poor start to his Ibrox career. His record across his first ten league games was the worst start to a season by an Old Firm debutant since John Greig's team won only two, drew six and lost two of their opening ten games in 1978-79.[6]
On 8 November, Rangers were knocked out of the Scottish League Cup at the quarter-final stage by First Division side St. Johnstone. The result, the first time Rangers had been knocked out of a cup tournament by a lower league side at home,[7][8] prompted protests outside Ibrox and demands for the situation to improve and David Murray to leave the club.[9]
On 1 January 2007, Rangers announced that Le Guen had stripped Barry Ferguson of his captaincy of the club and dropped him from the squad for a match the following day. BBC Sport reported that Ferguson would not play for Rangers again under Le Guen.[10]
Murray announced on 4 January 2007 that Paul Le Guen had left Rangers by mutual consent.[11] This made him the club's shortest-serving manager, and the only one to leave the club without completing a full season in charge.
Later that year, sports journalist Graham Spiers published, Paul Le Guen: Enigma (ISBN 1845962915) documenting his tenure at the club. According to Spiers, Le Guen left the club because he felt he was being "undermined" by other Rangers personnel, including Ferguson and then club doctor, Ian McGuinness, although Spiers also states that, "For his part, McGuinness was entitled to believe that he was being treated shabbily". [12]
