7 Rangers questions answered from Clement’s future to January transfer cash and mystery Goldson emptier unmasked
Fans want answers from the Ibrox board as things look far from ideal both on and off the park this season
Rangers boss Philippe Clement faces big calls for Motherwell
Rangers boss Philippe Clement faces big calls for Motherwell
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It’s been a season of turmoil at Ibrox with off-the-field upheaval leading to struggles on the park. Philippe Clement’s Rangers team are toiling, nine points off the Premiership pace, leaving the Belgian boss under some serious strain.
But with the club still searching for a permanent chairman and James Bisgrove’s replacement as CEO, it appears any decision over the manager’s future will have to wait. In the meantime, the Light Blues legions are having to sit and watch as their team stumbles on. Never mind wrestling the title back off of Celtic, they look to be in a battle for second spot as Aberdeen match the leaders point for point, so far making a better fist of a title fight than Rangers have in the last few seasons.
A Premier Sports Cup Final against the Hoops is on the horizon, and the outcome of that may go some way to determining what comes next on the park for Gers, but either way there will remain plenty of queries that need answers sooner rather than later. Here, Record Sport takes a look at some of the big issues the fans are demanding answers on.
READ MORE: Connor Goldson left Rangers ‘under a cloud’ as he absolves Clement and reveals new Ibrox figure wanted him gone
READ MORE: Jude Bellingham insists Rangers have no equal as 20 global superstars bathe in the Blue Sea of Ibrox
Is Clement still the man to take Rangers forward?
Time will tell but it’s fair to say he’s short on wiggle room. If his team lose any further ground on table-topping Celtic or Jimmy Thelin’s joint-leaders Aberdeen then he may find that his time in Glasgow is up. But in fairness to the Belgian, sacking him won’t fix the multitude of problems facing the club. The lack of leadership at the top of the marble staircase is having a material impact on what happens in the dressing room and it’s right that those key appointments are addressed first. But when the new chairman and CEO arrive, Clement can expect his own position to come under some significant scrutiny if results and performances don’t improve.
Gers have recorded a decent response results-wise since their painful Pittodrie setback but the product on show has been drab. The Ibrox outfit have even been outscored by Dundee United, St Mirren and Dundee so far the season. The fans are well within their rights to expect better and it’s now down to Clement to come up with a solution. He better do it quick before the new execs get down to work.
If Clement goes, who should be next?
Some fans would love to see Steven Gerrard return as they long for the team he lead to an invincible league triumph just three years ago. But the circumstances aren’t quite the same as when the former England captain arrived in 2018. Yes he inherited a team in a mess after replacing Graeme Murty but he was given a blank slate to work on as he performed an overhaul of the squad. He was given funds to work with and time to build his title-winning line-up over three seasons. It’s doubtful the Rangers board have the funds or the energy to go through all that again.
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Derek McInnes
They could go down the route Aberdeen have followed with Thelin by appointing an up-and-coming gaffer from foreign fields but again that’s a gamble at a time when the directors will be looking for something with a little more certainty attached. In that case, Derek McInnes seems the obvious choice. As a former Rangers player, he knows the club and the standards demanded inside out. It may not be the kind of pick that will excite every punter but it’s the sensible one in the circumstances.
What’s required in the next CEO?
Former chairman John Bennett claimed Bisgrove had “demonstrated outstanding credentials in the key areas of commercial delivery, talent development and leadership” when he promoted the former marketing boss to chief exec, insisting he was “ideally positioned” to take the club forward. In fact, he was nowhere near up to the job, as demonstrated by the ludicrous construction cock-up that forced the club to move into temporary accommodation at Hampden earlier this term.
The club simply can’t go down the route of appointing someone lacking the required skillset again. Interim chairman John Gilligan has hired a headhunting firm to lead their recruitment effort and has made clear he expects candidates to have qualities including assertiveness, strong business knowledge, an ability handle pressure, strong communication skills and a tremendous work ethic. The last of those is likely to be key given the new appointee will have to graft night and day to address the sheer number of outstanding issues.
John Bennett and former CEO James Bisgrove
But so to will an ability to grasp and shape the quirky politics of Scottish football. It’s an area where the Light Blues have been found wanting in recent years, unable to corral other clubs into the kind of coalition required to force through meaningful change at the SFA and SPFL. The club are now in the final stages of that search having drawn up a shortlist of candidates. St Mirren vice-chairman Jim Gillespie was the leading contender at one stage before backing out. Former FA exec Adrian Bevington told Record Sport back in September he was interested in the gig but we understand he’s not in the running. Whoever gets faces a heck of a job.
What can we expect from this year’s AGM?
Rangers’ annual shareholder summits can be bizarre affairs at times. No matter the off field dramas going on, the board never quite seem to get the kind of grilling you expect them to face. When there are serious questions to be asked, the directors have too often ended up getting an easy ride. Last year, net zero was the pressing topic concerning one punter at a time when Michael Beale’s disastrous summer recruitment drive was having a detrimental impact on the environment round Govan.
On other occasions it’s been grumbles about away tickets and the price of replica kit. This time though you can expect the Ibrox higher-ups to face a barrage of flak on their running of the club. They’ve got some serious explaining to do, with fans set to demand answers on another set of dismal financial figures spelling out a £17million loss, why the Copland construction cock-up was allowed to happen and what is being done to end the litany of transfer failings that have allowed Celtic to mount up trophy after trophy. It certainly won’t be a cosy sit down.
Should James Tavernier start against Celtic in the Cup Final?
The Parkhead faithful will certainly hope so given the Ibrox skipper’s flailing attempts at trying to keep track of Hoops flyer Daizen Maeda. The jet-heeled Japanese ace has run Tavernier ragged in the recent Old Firms and a month out from the final, the Ibrox support are already dreading a repeat. But it’s far from clear that Tavernier will get the nod.
He failed to start a major game for the first time in his nine and a half year Ibrox stint last week when he was dropped for the Europa League draw with Olympiacos in Athens. Clement tried to downplay that decision, insisting it was purely about keeping his captain fresh. But there’s no denying Tavernier’s levels have dropped this season.
Rangers skipper James Tavernier
With Dujon Sterling and Nana Kasanwirjo there as alternatives at right back, Clement has another huge call to make heading to Hampden. Clearly it would create a stir if he were to sit Tavernier out again. But better that for the Light Blues boss than facing a fresh backlash if history repeats itself in the final.
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Can Rangers strengthen in January?
That remains a long shot. Clement was told he’d have to sell before he could buy in the summer and the recent annual results showed why with the club again losing millions. The Ibrox gaffer could dearly do with some fresh faces to bolster his squad, especially up front. Rangers remain reliant on Cyriel Dessers goals but the Nigerian isn’t exactly clinical when it comes to taking his chances. Brazilian frontman Danilo is back fit but you have to wonder for how long given his misfortune on the injury front.
With Hamza Igamane still to justify his £2million price tag, Clement may have to look at bringing in another option but it looks like his best chance of that is through the loan market, which isn’t exactly brimming with nailed-on goalscorers. The chat around a move for Lawrence Shankland is bound to resurface as the Hearts skipper enters the final six months of his Tynecastle contract. But the excitement among the fans on that one has cooled significantly following a rapid drop in form.
Who was Connor Goldson talking about when he claims he was forced out?
Goldson has made clear it wasn’t Clement. He’s hinted it was “new people” around the club who made the call, so the best guess is Nils Koppen. The head of recruitment joined in January from PSV Eindhoven. However, given Goldson’s status at Ibrox at the time, it’s unlikely Koppen would be able to make a decision like that on his own so you’d have to expect John Bennett would have been involved too given he’d taken over the day-to-day running of the club around that period following Bisgrove’s departure to Saudi Arabia.
There’s good reason for deciding it was time to part ways. The Englishman was a terrific servant over his six years in Scotland but his form was on the slide and he was among Gers top earners. It made financial sense to move the former Brighton stopper on – but there’s a way of doing things and clearly Goldson isn’t happy about how it was all handled.
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Derek McInnesRangers FCPhilippe ClementJames BisgroveJohn BennettJames TavernierConnor GoldsonLawrence ShanklandDaniloCyriel DessersSteven GerrardScottish Premiership
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