Rangers' Philippe Clement dilemma as impossible situation haunts Ibrox amid calls to sack embattled manager
Haunted faces of Rangers players peered from the team bus as it rolled down the A90 late on Wednesday night. Halloween came a day early for the Ibrox club, their spirits crushed by another defeat, this time away at Aberdeen.
The Dons' 2-1 win over their arch-rivals leaves Rangers trailing them and Celtic by nine points just ten games into the Premiership. Last season’s runners-up are closer to eighth place that they are to the league’s summit. They have already lost three times domestically.
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Hide AdAdd in the galling financial results earlier this week that revealed a £17million loss over the past year and it is not hyperbole to suggest that Rangers are in complete turmoil. Amid serious seethe from a fuming fanbase, there is extreme heat on manager Philippe Clement. Supporters and pundits are saying the Belgian’s time is up.
Under normal circumstances, Clement’s P45 would likely be in the post. His predecessor Michael Beale was sacked last October while seven points off the summit. Giovanni van Bronckhorst was axed for less. But given that Rangers handed the Belgian a new contract last summer and have put so much faith in the ex-Monaco and Club Brugge boss, the hierarchy has little appetite for change.
Of course, when you have an interim chairman, no chief executive and very little money, hands are tied. Rangers are not just in a mess on the pitch; their problems extend well beyond it. John Gilligan is holding the fort while what feels like a never-ending search for a CEO and a permanent structure goes on. The ghosts of the past continue to cast a dark shadow.
The current Rangers directors put their all their chips on Clement earlier this year. The 50-year-old and his staff are on well-remunerated contracts until the summer of 2028. Given the millions required to pay off Beale and his coaches a year ago, making another managerial change would be another expensive outlay for a club that frankly doesn't have much money.
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Hide AdClement’s kickers will counter by saying Rangers simply cannot afford to keep him at the helm of this team. The squad is currently struggling, failing to cope with the demands of three games in a week across domestic and continental competitions. There have been some decent results but just when it looks like Rangers have turned a corner, they lose at Rugby Park or Pittodrie. Clement is unable to keep his team on an even keel.
The defeat against a resurgent Aberdeen highlighted Rangers’ failings. They have only taken four points from five matches on the road, netting just two goals. The defence is not rigid, and the spine of the team is not strong enough. The attacking third splutters, with main striker Cyriel Dessers now completely devoid of composure. As was proven last season when they briefly led the title race, they do not have the mentality of champions.
Clement contests the current situation by clinging on to hope that this team will get better. Using the excuses of a rebuild, the Belgian believes that, in time, the players will mature and stitch together into a consistently cohesive unit. He did temporarily claw back a seven-point deficit last term, but that was when the club was buoyant from his arrival. A year on, his Rangers team is stale.
There was desperation in the air when Clement spoke to the press immediately after the defeat by Aberdeen. The Belgian always fronts up and does not shy away from questions but clinging on to a marginal offside call against Dessers just before the break and a dubious assessment that this was one his team’s better performances of the season raised eyebrows. Rangers did not deserve to leave the north east with three points, and dodged a knock-out blow when Jamie McGrath missed a penalty at 1-0. Had that gone in, it could have got ugly for Rangers.
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Hide AdThe harsh reality for Clement and Rangers now is that they are in both in dire straits. Unless a fresh investor comes to the table with a plan accepted by the current regime, whose status with the fans is diminishing every passing week, setting fire to another management team will put more red on the balance sheet. And while Clement carries the can for results, he also has to work with a group of players that appear incapable of rising to the standard required at Rangers. Culpability lies with them too. Clement has a mighty job on his his hands elevating them.
Under current director of football recruitment Nils Koppen, Rangers have shifted to signing targets with potential in a bid to make money further down the line. That approach is all fine and well, but there needs to be a squad in place to cope with the numerous challenges at the club. Rangers have neglected the here and now.
Bringing in a new management team - whatever guise that may take - would continue the "rinse and repeat" strategy that Rangers are so desperate to avoid. That comes with further costs, a requirement to adhere to that particular coach's philosophy. The club may feel it owes Clement too, given the exceptionally challenging environment he is working with at Ibrox given some of the behind-the-scenes turmoil. The fish is rotting from the head down.
All this is amplified by the renaissance already well under way at Aberdeen under Jimmy Thelin. With lesser resources than Clement, the Dons are putting Rangers to shame. Granted, the pressures of working at Pittodrie compared to Ibrox are not a fair comparison - and Rangers have to juggle European football - but that doesn’t wash in the cut-throat Ibrox environment. The demands are so high.
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Hide AdThe reality is that Rangers face an extra opponent this year in Aberdeen. The Dons don’t look like a team that is going to go away quietly after gatecrashing the Old Firm party. Clement doesn’t need this, an uprising in the north, when Glasgow neighbours Celtic continue to pile on the pressure with their own superiority.
Rangers’ next assignment is at Hampden, their home stadium not so long ago after the Ibrox construction work debacle. Defeat is absolutely unthinkable in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Motherwell, a result that would surely signal the arrival of the grim reaper. Such a scenario would tip a club clinging on by its toenails over the edge.
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