TOWARDS 5.30 pm on Tuesday, Paul Le Guen used the word "precarious" and repeated it a couple of times over the following 15 minutes.

If he wasn't by then fully aware his time as the manager of Rangers was at an end, then at least he had the wherewithal to send out smoke signals from an increasingly besieged reservation. Just under 48 hours from his job description, he left.

Did he go or was he pushed? Well, that's a moot point and will never be properly answered, but there can be no question he had applied polish to the soles of his shoes and had stepped onto the precipice.

On the back of an inept performance in his role over just seven months, he had previously announced Barry Ferguson had been stripped of the captaincy and, within the claustrophobic confines of the media area at Motherwell's Fir Park, he more or less left Ferguson without a name.

Granted, he acknowledged the player's football ability but deemed him to be disruptive, insubordinate, and a negative influence within the dressing room. He could provide no guarantees on even the potential of a reconciliation because there were none, such was the level of mistrust that had stewed.

If the picture hadn't been completed by then, it was evident the framing process was but a formality.

There was more chance of Rangers overhauling Celtic's 17-point SPL lead than there was of a meeting of minds between the two men - and one had to depart.

Of course, Rangers will distance themselves from any notion a stark choice was made and delivered, and yesterday's statement from the club's owner and chairman David Murray was typical of the bland epistles that emanate from on high when seismic decisions are taken.

"Having met with Paul it was clear that in the interests of the club and all concerned we agreed jointly to him stepping down as manager," it read.

Interpret that one as you will and the intrigue may well continue through Sunday with whispers suggesting the short-term caretaker, Ian Durrant, might not return the armband or even use Ferguson from the start of the Tennent's Scottish Cup-tie against Dunfermline at East End Park.

Durrant, a close pal of Ferguson's older brother, Derek, used to take Barry out for walks when he was a kid so this would be quite a trick and, again, might with some justification be regarded as an attempt to separate the departure of Le Guen from the brouhaha caused by what was tantamount to the sacking of Ferguson.

However, this will be but a sideshow to the main issue, which is the restoration of Rangers as a genuinely credible force in the Scottish game.

The Ferguson issue might well have been a convenient departure and have had the effect of diverting attention, but it could never have been more than a temporary nuisance.

Le Guen did not quit or leave by "mutual consent" - or was sacked - because he couldn't hack it with one player.

The problems have been deep-rooted since he took over and were fulfilled by his identification of, at best, mediocrity which was compounded by a baffling tactical approach.

Bad players - and they are the rule rather than the exception right now - must operate in straightforward formations, but Le Guen seemed to believe they were capable of switching and playing the numbers game when they were being stretched to pass the ball accurately to one another.

In this regard there was just a touch of arrogance about him which, it must be said, did not figure at all in his dealings with the media and supporters.

History will consign him to a degraded position within the lengthy annals of the club.

To have lasted just seven months will be a very personal hurt and disappointment, but he cannot disguise the fact he was inept, unable to come to terms with the curious demands of Scottish football and the natures of the natives.

Probably, his departure will end the club's adventure with foreign coaches.

Dutchman Dick Advocaat was reasonably successful - albeit backed by the fortunes made available by Murray - but found the arrival of Martin O'Neill at Celtic one nut much too difficult to crack.

Le Guen was tracked for the best part of a year before he agreed last March to take over from Alex McLeish, so he had ample time to determine his approach to the job and to come to terms with the demands he was about to confront.

The shenanigans over Ferguson were peripheral. Le Guen failed and pretty spectacularly at that.

His legacy is a collection of, at best, very ordinary players who will surely be on their way before the start of season 2007-08.

Rangers will be quite a time in the healing process.