Philippe Clement is Rangers' Ange or Klopp says ex-Celtic boss who once signed him and babysat his kids

Gordon Strachan reveals why he has not yet reached out to the current Rangers manager

Rangers manager Phillipe Clement was once signed by former Celtic boss Gordon Strachan. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Gordon Strachan once signed Philippe Clement for Coventry City so it has come as no surprise to the former Celtic manager that the Belgian has made a successful start to life at Rangers.

Clement joined the Sky Blues, then a Premier League side, in 1998 from Genk but managed only 16 appearances in an injury-curtailed season before returning to his homeland to sign for Club Brugge.

He and Strachan became close at Coventry and the recent move to Glasgow raised the possibility of a reunion for the former Highfield Road duo. Strachan, however, admits he will need to keep a bit of distance due to his connections with Celtic.

"I haven’t been in contact with Philippe for a long time, with my history at Celtic, I can’t. I was close to him when he played under me at Coventry – I even babysat his kids one evening," he told Lord Ping.

"His determination as a player to overcome adversity was phenomenal. He had a nasty injury when he was playing for me at Coventry.

"If you look at his managerial career, his record has been terrific wherever he has been. You always follow your old players, and it’s great, but when he arrived on my doorstep at Rangers, I was thinking to myself, ‘nice to see you, Philippe (laughs). We’ve got a problem here because I managed Celtic, and my son is on the coaching staff’.

"I hope he can enjoy the scenery and the sights of Scotland. Maybe one day we could meet up and have a cup of tea or something like that, but that would have to be as far as it ever goes."

Clement has made a positive impression so far at Rangers, closing the seven-point gap to Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership, winning the Viaplay Cup, and also leading the club into the Europa League last 16.

Strachan believes his former player has a similar aura to the likes of Ange Postecoglou, the former Celtic boss now in charge of Tottenham, and soon-to-depart Liverpool figurehead Jurgen Klopp.

"He’s been an impressive figure in management," Strachan added. "People are drawn to him in a similar way people are drawn to people like Klopp and Ange. He has a presence, and that helps players buy into your ideas.

He says all the rights things. In interviews it doesn’t look like he wants to be bullied and he stands up for himself when he needs to do, which is good. I think players like to see their managers giving as good as they got in the media. I like that about him too. He’ll tell you how his team played, you don’t tell him."