Michael Beale's Rangers lieutenant suffers managerial disaster as he leaves boss role after one win
The former Chelsea and West Ham coach formed part of Michael Beale’s coaching team at Ibrox
Former Rangers coach Harry Watling has left his role as manager of struggling English National League Ebbsfleet United after a disastrous three-month stint at the Stonebridge Road Stadium.
A statement from the club read: "Following discussions today between the club and Harry Watling, it has been mutually agreed to part ways. The club wishes to place on record our thanks to Harry for his efforts since joining in September. Josh Wright will take the role of first team manager going forward, assisted by David Kerslake.”
Ebbsfleet currently sit 24th in the National League and 11 points from safety after a commendable 19th place finish last season. Watling, whose only previous role in management came in USA with Hartford Athletic, was hired to replace Danny Searle in September and became the youngest manager in the National League.
He arrived at Ebbsfleet with a strong reputation which had also seen him take coaching roles with academies at Chelsea, Millwall and West Ham.
He also worked as Michael Beale’s first team coach during a brief stint at QPR and was one of the coaches selected to follow him to Ibrox in November 2022 in what would ultimately prove to be a brief and unsuccessful 11-month stint in Glasgow.
However, he was only able to win just one of his 15 games in charge while picking up four draws and a dismal nine defeats - giving him an overall win percentage of just 7.1%.
The 35-year-old, who was tasked with overseeing the team’s set piece routines during his time at Ibrox, joins Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Pedro Caixinha in the lost of ex-Rangers men out of work after they were axed by Besiktas and Bragantino respectively. Watling's former mentor Beale spent months without a team but is now back in the game - after linking up with Steven Gerrard again in Saudi Arabia with Al Ettifaq.