Jeered Rangers boss Philippe Clement comes out swinging amid 'broken' claims and reveals support

Philippe Clement is adamant he is still the man to take Rangers forward as fans turned on the Belgian amid angry scenes at the end of the 1-1 draw with Dundee at Dens Park.

Although Rangers have been struggling throughout this season, they were the first obvious signs that the manager has lost the faith of the hardcore support.

Former Ibrox striker Kris Boyd voiced his opinion that Rangers are “broken” on Sky Sports, who covered the game live. But Clement is confident that he still has the backing of the Ibrox hierarchy.

Rangers manager Philippe Clement feels he can take Rangers forward. | SNS Group

The manager walked into the media room shortly after Boyd’s words were broadcast on televisions around Dens Park. He was clearly hurting after Rangers dropped points on the road for the fourth time in succession – with the Ibrox side perhaps fortunate to secure even a draw.

Vaclav Cerny levelled the score 11 minutes before half time after Seun Adewumi had given Dundee the lead inside six minutes. Cerny’s strike came after Rangers survived a strong penalty appeal after Simon Murray was felled by a clumsy challenge from Rangers’ defender Clinton Nsiala on his Premiership debut.

But Clement sought to present a bullish front as the subject inevitably turned to the question of his future amid the very evident anger of the fans following the final whistle.

Asked if he felt 100 per cent confident that he still retained the support of the board, Clement replied: “Yes, 200 per cent.” New CEO Patrick Stewart was in the Dens Park directors’ box to watch Rangers stutter on the road once again just a week after they had posted a bravura performance against Celtic. All eyes are on Rangers’ next game, when they face St Johnstone at Ibrox. It’s possible they could be 18 points adrift of leaders Celtic by then. But Clement believes he has the faith of his employers.

“We talk every day about everything, about January (signings), about next season, about everything,” said Clement, who repeated his contention that Stewart will explain in the coming days what Rangers can or cannot in the transfer market. Clement believes Rangers are still on the right track despite the unhappiness of the support.

“Yes, of course they are unhappy,” he said. “We are also unhappy, all of us are unhappy, to lose these three points.

The Rangers players look on dejectedly. | SNS Group

Supporters are always behind us when we are good, when we play good games. So today it was not a good game. So I understand that they are unhappy about that.”

Asked whether he was worried he had lost the faith of the supporters, who loudly jeered him at the end, he said: “I know these supporters, that they don't give up the moment we show quality. It's about us showing the quality on the pitch and then they are directly behind the team, always. So it's our task to do that as fast as possible. That starts on Sunday (v St Johnstone), to show quality again and on both sides of the game. Not only offensively, also defensively.

“Today, defensively, it was better compared with the last away games. In that way, it was positive. Clinton Nsiala played his third game for Rangers, another positive point. But at the end, it's about results, of course.”

He lamented Rangers’ failure to break through Dundee’s tight defence. It’s the second time in two visits that Clement’s side have dropped points at Dens Park. They drew 0-0 at the stadium in April to all but hand the title to Celtic and here once more they lacked the quality to collect all three points.

“If you start then with conceding a goal after six minutes, you make it more difficult for yourself,” Clement observed. “That's the first part.

Dundee were worthy of their point. | SNS Group

“After that, we missed in the first half movement up front, movement behind this defence to open up spaces. That was better in the second half, but not good enough to win the game and to open up the defence of the opponent who are, of course, very low with a lot of people there.

“We did not show the quality that the team showed the last couple of weeks in the final third,” he added. “Hamza (Igamane) was also too much on the sides in moments, wanting to create something, but we lacked him then in the centre of the pitch. That had to be much better.”