Rangers’ domestic season came to an end in a competitive sense the moment Queen’s Park rocked up to Ibrox in the Scottish Cup.
The writing was also on the wall for Philippe Clement and his tenure at Ibrox after Sebastian Drozd’s goal sent Rangers packing from the tournament.
The result might not have been the final nail in the manager’s coffin at Rangers, but it at least set it in place for St Mirren to strike the fatal blow.
Issame Charai might have Clement’s back but the former Rangers manager was never surviving back-to-back home defeats given the context of the season.
But the scale of that mind-blowing Scottish Cup result, which is technically the worst in Rangers’ history, has just been highlighted over the weekend.
That’s because the man who masterminded the victory, Callum Davidson, has just been sacked by Queen’s Park after a string of poor results in the Scottish Championship.
Callum Davidson sacked by Queen’s Park
Callum Davidson is a familiar cup foe for Rangers, with the ex-St Johnstone manager delivering a cup double for the Saints the season the Ibrox side won the title in 2021.
Davidson’s Saints famously defeated Rangers en route to the Scottish Cup Final that season and the coach pulled on his expertise to give Philippe Clement his John Barnes moment at Ibrox.
The defeat to Queen’s Park was the first time Rangers have lost a Scottish Cup tie at home to a lower league team in the club’s 153 year history.
But as if to highlight the scale of the calamity, Davidson has now been relieved of his duties at Lesser Hampden.
It comes after Davidson’s side were thumped 4-0 by Championship promotion hopefuls Falkirk to leave the club 7th in the Scottish second flight table and threatening to be pulled into a relegation battle.
The result means Davidson has won just one out of his last nine matches in the Scottish Championship.
A Queen’s Park statement reads: “Queen’s Park FC can today advise that Head Coach Callum Davidson has been relieved of his duties following today’s match with Falkirk.
“Further information will be issued by the club in the coming days.”
Alex Rae slaughters Scottish Cup ‘embarassment’
Alex Rae was Philippe Clement’s assistant on the sidelines as Rangers were defeated by Queen’s Park.
Rae has launched a staunch defence of Clement in recent weeks but even the former Ibrox midfielder couldn’t hide his ‘embarrassment’ over the Scottish Cup result.
Speaking to Clyde Superscoreboard, Rae explains how the 1-0 defeat left him red-faced as the ex-Ibrox midfielder takes responsibility for his role in the result.
”I think the word that I used a couple of days ago was I was actually embarrassed by the result,” said Rae.
”I mean that with the greatest respect to Queen’s Park. It’s all about levels and with the greatest respect to the Queen’s Park players they managed to dig out a result on the day.
”But I was embarrassed. That’s the only way (I can describe it). By the way I am part of that, that’s not me going ‘this is the players’.
”I was actually embarrassed by it and I knew the magnitude of it because I’ve been around about the club for a long time.
”You’re thinking to yourself at that particular point, could it be the time that the board pull the trigger? It’s very difficult to survive a result like that.”
