Philippe Clement theory debunked by Rangers rivals and board moving the goalposts is excuse that just doesn’t wash
The beleaguered Belgian is on borrowed time after falling 11 points behind in the Scottish Premiership
Rangers boss Philippe Clement
Rangers boss Philippe Clement
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Philippe Clement has acknowledged he is out of credit.
The Belgian is spot on because, quite simply, Rangers can’t go on like this. If there isn’t a drastic improvement then incoming chairman Lord Offord and new chief executive Patrick Stewart will have a big call to make, before they have even got their feet under the desk.
Social media was awash on Sunday evening that Clement had mutually agreed to leave Rangers. The claim was quickly shot down by the Rangers board but there weren’t too many tears being shed by the Light Blue legions when the notion was initially floated. Clement is right, whatever credit he had in the bank last season has been well and truly wiped out. He is reduced to running in the red. If domestic results continue as they are then surely it is only a matter of time before the Ibrox hierarchy has to make that call.
Rangers have three Premiership games coming up before the Premier Sports Cup final and anything less than maximum points would prove fatal. They gave him a new contract earlier this season. People argue Rangers maybe financially don’t want to sack him.
But the bottom line is that if domestic results continue like this then can they afford not to? Yes, another decent European result this week would be Nice but it wouldn’t do anything other than paper over the cracks. Rangers, ironically, are well placed in Europe after wins over Malmo and Steaua Bucharest and a draw away to Olympiacos.
There is no doubt if Nice fancy it then they, like Lyon, will be a class above and anything taken here would be a bonus. Runs in Europe are important to Rangers but the bread and butter is the domestic game and right now the Light Blues are miles behind Celtic on the pitch, off the pitch and in the table.
That would be hard enough for the Rangers fans to stomach but you can also add in that they are eight points behind Aberdeen! You wouldn’t bet on them, on current form, clawing that back never mind getting near Celtic.
Second best is not good enough and to be third in the league is simply unacceptable. Rangers dropped two points against Dundee United and Clement had clearly been rattled by Jim Goodwin’s mind games before the match.
The Rangers boss took to his pre-match press conference and said he liked it when other people motivate his players. That should be his job and it is clearly not happening. He wasn’t able to get his team up to win a match they couldn’t afford not to win. Goodwin and his United team have ended up doing a job on him on and off the park!
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His team has also lost in the league to Celtic, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen. They are a million miles from where they were at the peak of his powers last season. For a spell, it looked like he could turn Rangers into genuine title contenders before Celtic showed their quality and pulled away at the end.
This season the current Rangers squad isn’t even a patch on the one that finished second last season and lifted the Premier Sports Cup. Clement will argue that he has had to cut the wage bill and rebuild and it takes time.
Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin, though, has debunked that theory somewhat. He came in and inherited a side that was in the bottom six. He also sold their top striker, Bojan Miovski to Girona, but with six or seven additions he has completely transformed Aberdeen.
That is on a budget that is a fraction of what Rangers spend on players. Yet, they find themselves well ahead of the Glasgow giants. There are also a number of players that have moved on that Rangers are still paying a huge chunk of their wages.
Rangers have made additions but there have been clear flaws in their recruitment. They have gone for some young players such as Connor Barron, Jefte and Hazma Igamane.
Rangers’ Connor Barron in action
Rangers will have paid money for all these, especially when the Scottish Professional Football League finally get round to organising a tribunal to set the transfer fee that has to be paid to Aberdeen.
These are all good players and they might be playing just now but they are all very much players with one eye on the future. Money was clearly tight at Rangers and so every penny should have gone on targets who could go into the squad and hit the ground running.
Maybe the goalposts were moved for Clement but regardless the signings should all have been players who were able to close the gap on Celtic rather than building for the long-term. The bottom line is if Clement doesn’t put a good unbeaten run together he is not going to see these players blossom.
It is going to be his successor or the one after that. Clement has always asked for patience but in Glasgow you don’t get that – especially if you are not even playing second fiddle. There is no doubt the Belgian has made some big calls and they haven’t won him many favours within the dressing room, with some of the players he wanted out over the summer.
Ironically, if things don’t improve then Clement will be the next one pushed out the Ibrox exit door.
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