Soccer-Rangers part company with manager Caixinha

* Portuguese won 14 out of 26 games in charge

* Development coach Graeme Murty given caretaker role (Adds detail, quotes)

Oct (Shenzhen: 000069.SZ - news) 26 (Reuters) - Rangers have sacked manager Pedro Caixinha after a seven-month spell in charge at Ibrox, the Scottish Premiership club said on Thursday.

The decision was made at a board meeting after Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw against Kilmarnock on Wednesday and the club said in a statement it would being the search for a new manager immediately.

"Graeme Murty, head development squad coach, will take charge of the first-team in the interim," the statement added. (www.rangers.co.uk)

Portuguese Caixinha was appointed in March after Mark Warburton left the club and won 14 of his 26 games in charge.

The record 54-times Scottish champions have won five of 10 league games this season, with three draws and two defeats.

Rangers backed Caixinha in the last transfer window, bringing in the likes of midfielders Carlos Pena and Graham Dorrans, strikers Eduardo Herrera Alfredo Morelos and centre-back Fabio Cardoso.

The club said the decision to sack him was taken after careful consideration and that "results have been disappointing and not commensurate with the level of investment that was made available".

Rangers are fourth in the Scottish Premiership, eight points behind leaders Celtic (LSE: CCP.L - news) , and visit Heart of Midlothian on Saturday (Shenzhen: 002291.SZ - news) .

Arch-rivals Celtic have won the league for the last six seasons while Rangers were demoted to the fourth tier in 2012 after going into administration but returned to the top flight in 2016. (Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)