As reported by The Daily Mail, former Rangers captain David Weir has criticised club chairman Dave King for putting pressure on Graeme Murty ahead of their massive Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic this Sunday.

What's the story?

Dave King issued a statement to supporters as part of Rangers' season ticket renewal campaign earlier this week, demanding 'immediate success' from the club's next managerial appointment despite the future of Murty having not yet been decided.

David Weir, who made over 200 appearances for the Light Blues, believes it ignites a debate in a week that the club should be 100% focused on the task of facing Celtic.

As quoted by The Daily Mail, he said:

Graeme Murty is the manager and he deserves the respect of being manager. Obviously the statement cast dubiety on that and put it up for debate again.

I think Rangers should be focusing on the semi-final just now and focusing on the manager they've got and giving him as much support as they can, rather than that (statement).

Obviously season tickets are up for renewal, so that was possibly part of it, but looking at it from a coaching point of view it's probably a question that Graeme didn't need asking.

Was Dave King out of order for muddying the waters with regards to appointing a permanent Rangers manager?

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Make or break for Murty

The strange thing about the timing of Dave King's comments is that Sunday will be a defining moment in determining whether Murty will take charge beyond the end of the season.

Having failed to convince supporters he is worth keeping, a defeat would surely spell the end of his management at Ibrox. Whereas a win would put him in a strong position to get the job.

Putting pressure on him ahead of this clash is certainly unfair, especially when his status is in limbo. Taking the time to see how the semi-final plays out then taking a decision behind closed doors before informing fans would surely have been the way to go.

Can Murty beat the odds and pick up a massive derby victory?