Has any manager made such an impression on Scottish football in such a short space of time as Philippe Clement? Monday marks the six-month anniversary of the Belgian’s appointment at Rangers but it definitely feels like he has been around for longer.

He has transformed a squad utterly bereft of confidence under his predecessor Michael Beale, raising the levels of some of the underperforming talent at his disposal and then augmenting their numbers with some shrewd January acquisitions. He hasn’t got everything right – he is yet to oversee a win over Celtic – and the week ahead, starting with Sunday’s visit to Ross County, will go a long way in shaping how his first season at Ibrox is ultimately viewed. But it has been a productive start.

Off the field the former Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco manager has also proved a welcome addition to the voices setting the Scottish football agenda. He has shown glimpses of humour and is no stranger to a wry smile but there is nothing frivolous about his demeanour. Whereas Beale would happily talk at length on any subject thrown at him, his successor is less prone to indulging flights of fancy or a wander down a hypothetical alley. Clement always comes across as engaged, animated and avuncular but his thought process is undoubtedly programmed with predetermined parameters.

Rangers manager Philippe Clement takes his team to Dingwall to face Ross County on Sunday.

His no-nonsense approach would seem, on the surface, to be a jarring juxtaposition to Scottish football’s proclivity for the dramatic, the endless, breathless debate about VAR, referees, diving, waterlogged pitches, plastic pitches, fixture scheduling and just about anything rather than the action itself. Clement, though, says he already feels at home here, beguiled by the warmth of the Scottish people and their obsession with football. It is a trait that he shares.

“I love Scottish football, really. I love to be here,” he insisted. “I think that, in moments, Scottish people speak too negatively about Scottish football and the things around it. It is the same as English people do, French people do, other people do — it’s a habit of everyone thinking they don’t do it well and the sun shines somewhere else. That’s not the case. There are a lot of positive things here about Scottish football. One thing is the passion of the people for football. The passion of the fans for football, the passion of the managers for football, the passion of the players for football. It’s really great to see.”

Clement is evidently passionate about the need for suitable pitches. The deteriorating state of Dundee’s surface is something that clearly gnaws at him, a mini drama that will come to a head in the coming days when Dens Park gets the green light to host the rearranged fixture with Rangers on Wednesday night. Or it doesn’t and an alternative venue will need to be found for a game that could well be played in front of no fans. The embarrassment belongs solely to Dundee and the SPFL but Clement worried about the long-term ramifications for the Scottish game as a whole should matters like this become more commonplace.

“If these things come back, yes,” he said, when asked if it’s the sort of issue that could deter potential future signings. “You don’t want this story about the pitch to be a normal thing. If everybody says, “okay guys, it’s normal. You go to Dundee two times but you cannot play because the pitch is under water, although you trained a little bit”. You don’t want that. There’s no difference between foreign people or Scottish people. If this is the normal thing and [a player or manager] can go to the Premier League or League One or the second league in Belgium, for example, then you go there if you know you can do your job in a normal way.

Dundee's Dens Park pitch failed an inspection on Wednesday, leading to the postponement of their match against Rangers.

“So, I think for everybody it is really clear. This situation cannot happen again in the future. Nobody wants this. The pitch is an important part of a good product of football, all over the world. Look at all the good leagues — there are good pitches because everyone wants that type of football.”

The story of the Scottish Cup tie between Inverness Thistle and Falkirk that was postponed 29 times piqued Clement’s interest. “Maybe we can go back to 1979 and play with the balls which had the laces through them,” he offered. “Listen, I think the game has evolved – in a good way. That’s why broadcasters pay a lot of money to have the rights. I don’t think they’re happy either with these postponed games – they take all their equipment and all their people there. This is now 2024 and all over Europe this doesn’t happen.”

On a more positive slant, Clement seemed to take genuine pride at being told that the 1.4 million viewers who tuned in to Sky Sports for the Old Firm derby last weekend was a record. “I’m pleased for the club as those are important things, also for the players and the country also,” he added. “A lot of people wanted to see that game and it was a good game in intensity, excitement and will. In that way I think it’s a positive thing.

“Nobody who watched that game was afterwards drinking something and saying to his wife, ‘That was a boring afternoon’. So that’s only a good thing for Scottish football. And it is good teams who are challenging each other in a good way. I think everybody loves that. Everybody in Scotland is happy that there’s a title race now as it was quite a while ago since that was the case. It’s only a positive thing. The more teams in the title race the more interesting it gets.”

Philippe Clement approaches Rangers milestone with sizeable impact - 'I love Scottish football, really'

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