Jack Hendry explains why Rangers have landed very good manager, has say on Scotland VAR controversy and reveals Steven Gerrard text

Jack Hendry is confident Rangers have found a top manager in Philippe Clement, the manager who signed him for Club Brugge and helped him cope the last time the Scotland defender came up against Kylian Mbappe.

Che Adams and Jack Hendry during a Scotland training session ahead of facing France.

Hendry is preparing to face the France superstar this evening in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy as start preparations for the Euro 2024 finals. It is the first meeting since the tall Scot produced a man of the match performance for the Belgian side against Paris-Saint Germain a Champions League group game in 2021. He wasn’t just facing Mbappe, he also had to contend with Lionel Messi and Neymar, who were both also at PSG at the time.

Clement was the manager who oversaw a memorable draw. “I thought you might ask me about him!” smiled Hendry. “He is a very good manager, a very good person. He took me to Brugge. I can’t speak highly enough of him and I wish him well.”

Clement signed a four-year deal with Rangers on Sunday. Hendry hailed his old manager for helping him shackle Mbappe. The defender will be delving into his memory banks this evening as he attempts to do another number on the French winger. “I have been lucky enough to play under a lot of good coaches and different nationalities, given the pathway I have taken,” said Hendry, who is now Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia. Hendry mentioned Clement was big on details and was very precise in how telling him how he should handle Mbappe. “The likes of John Souttar and so on will enjoy working with him,” he said.

Hendry played for new Rangers manager Philippe Clement at Club Brugge.

Hendry is speaking from a unique position of being able to speak about the current Rangers manager as well as a previous one in Steven Gerrard, who signed him for Al-Ettifaq. Has the former England skipper been in touch since Scotland sealed qualification for Euro 2024 on Sunday? “He did actually drop me a text just congratulating me,” said Hendry. “He is very fond of the time he spent up the road.”

Both Hendry and Gerrard are enjoying their Middle East sojourn so far although the move does present human rights-associated difficulties, as Jordan Henderson – Hendry’s teammate at Al-Ettifaq – has found to his cost. He was even booed when he was subbed off in the second half of England’s 1-0 win over Australia on Friday. “I didn’t see or hear much of it,” said Hendry. “Again, I can’t speak highly enough of Jordan or how he has been with me. He is a top pro both on and off the pitch.”

Hendry had to deal with his own problems last week after he played a crucial part in Scott McTominay’s disallowed goal against Spain after straying inches offside and being deemed to have impeded Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon. "On the VAR perspective, it is frustrating,” he said. “Sometimes it goes for you or against you and on Thursday it went against us and the boys were just looking for a bit of clarity. There were some mixed messages on the pitch, whether it was offside or a foul. And I still don't know if there is any clarity but thankfully it hasn't had too much impact on the group.

"I don't think I was impeding the goalkeeper,” he added. "I just made that movement to get across it (the ball) and unfortunately I think maybe my toe was offside.”