Warburton called for 'time and patience' in final Rangers programme notes

Mark Warburton called for "time and patience" to rebuild Rangers in his final comments for the club, which were published in the programme for Sunday's Scottish Cup match against Morton.

Warburton's tenure as manager came to a bizarre end on Friday when Rangers announced he had resigned from his role amid reports linking him with the job at English Championship club Nottingham Forest.

But Warburton, who had given a pre-match news conference earlier in the day, denied he had offered his resignation having been at Ibrox for a season and a half.

Chairman Dave King later claimed Warburton had seen Rangers as "a stepping stone" to a job in England's Premier League and said confusion had been caused when the club denied a last-minute request to defer a previous resignation offer.

Under-20s boss Graeme Murty is in temporary charge, but Warburton's exit had come too soon for his final remarks to be removed from the matchday programme.

"I have often spoken of the weight of expectation here at Rangers and of the demands that come with signing for such a great club, but I believe that too often such statements are taken lightly or ignored," Warburton wrote.

"The current players are here at an unprecedented time, a period when the club is rebuilding from the very lowest level and yet the expectation remains as strong as ever.

"The simple fact is that most of us - players and staff - would not be here had the club not been through the traumas of the last five years.

"Our supporters are desperate for the club to return to previous 'highs' and everyone in the football department is equally desperate to play their part in helping the club achieve such goals.

"It is incredibly hard to have to see the club go through a rebuilding process that by its very nature demands time and patience.

"However it is only through time and patience that we will indeed see Rangers back at the top of Scottish football and gracing European venues.

"There is no shortcut option, there is no 'quick fix', there can be no overspending that places the club once again in a perilous position.

"It is simply a case of every person in the department coming in every day to be the best they can. Very often the best solution is the simplest solution - just work harder!"