Philippe Clement Rangers unveiling: Manager with easy individualistic streak - as footwear suggests

It was impossible not to be impressed by the assured air Philippe Clement exuded in the fabled Ibrox blue room as he articulated his vision for ensuring he doesn’t become the latest in a lengthening line of short-stay Rangers managers. And also taken with his shoes. Especially his shoes.

From the ankles up, the 49-year-old Belgian cut the figure of your standard, newly-minted, man handed the onerous role. His blue, three-piece Rangers suit and tie fitting him with the snazziness of a catalogue model, leaving the imposing, shaven-headed 6ft 3in former defender – looking every inch a figure not to be messed with – to cut a dash typical of those who have gone before him in the post. Only for his footwear to suggest something different lurking underneath. Not for Clement the brown brogues considered de rigueur for high-ranking Rangers figures down the ages. In their place was a curious hybrid. At first glance it appeared he was sporting an unremarkable black dress shoe. Only for the soul and white trimming to suggest a souped-up trainer. A souped-up trainer of the continental coaching variety precisely what the Rangers board have their fingers and toes crossed they have landed. In a man whose breaking with brogues tradition suggests a comfort in his own skin, and an individualistic streak.

Clement arrives in Glasgow with ample reason to be sure of himself, sure of going his own way. Essentially, his methods have served him with distinction across six years in frontline management. He may have been dispensed with by Monaco in June following only 18 months in the Principality, but he had a bad last couple of months as opposed to struggling throughout that tenure. On the back of snaring Club Brugge back-to-back titles between 2019 and 2022 - the club well-set for a third before he headed to the Cote d’Azur mid-season – after leading Genk to the previous Belgian championship before he was poached by the side with which he had a decade-long playing career. Clement’s ability to appear immediately at ease in management across the six months he spent in his first such berth with Waasland-Beveren paving the way for the top honour snaring in his homeland that followed.

“First, nice to meet you all for the first time. I’m delighted to be here. It has been a hectic few days, but it is normal if you step into this part of the season,” said Clement as he chose to introduce himself with an easy manner as he met the Scottish media. Before pointedly going on to alert to the fact that he is well-versed in altering successfully the trajectory of teams he has taken over in the throes of a campaign. Doing so in a blue room covered with images of the storied past he must build on to extricate the club from the black hole of failure and recrimination that has sucked the life out of the support’s hopes for the present. And the foreseeable future. Celtic may be the seemingly immovable obstacle in the way of achieving that, but Clement is astute enough to recognise that cannot be his starting point for re-animating a side that barely had a pulse before Michael Beale was banished from the premises. Untold damage certainly was inflicted on the Englishman’s employment prospects by the derby defeat at home to Brendan Rodgers’ men in the first week of September. However, Beale would have at least limped along were it not for this being added to a charge sheet that became punishable with the ultimate sanction when an abject display led to the 3-1 loss at Ibrox against Aberdeen two-and-a-half weeks ago. An outcome that has allowed Celtic to establish a seven-point Premiership lead over their bitter rivals because Rangers also opened their league campaign with a sorry reverse in Kilmarnock.

Clement, then, must first be picking off victories against all others in the Scottish top flight before he sets sights on his club’s ultimate quarry. Starting with his first assignment that takes the form of hosting Hibs on Saturday. Astutely, Rangers’ 19th permanent manager is determined not to develop a Celtic fixation in plotting the path to digging the Ibrox men out of their current rut. Imperative to that landing the League Cup before Christmas. A feat that won’t require usurping Celtic since either Aberdeen or Hibs will lie in wait if he can fire the Ibrox side to semi-final success over Hearts on Guy Fawkes night.

“I think one thing, the major thing, for the next weeks and maybe months, we will see, is that we need to be focused on ourselves,” he said, when asked how he would topple a Celtic with such a strong advantage in the title race. Which he didn’t shy away from admitting was the situation. “For me, a season is like a marathon and it is no use to look at this guy that is running in front of you all the time and then try to chase it with one big sprint and then not have the legs to do the marathon and to kill yourself. No, you need to focus on yourself, on your pace, that it is faster than before, better than before and that you can do all the marathon. It is not about the next two, three games, it is about a lot of games this season, in a lot of competitions. We need to look at all those things, we need to focus on ourselves, not on other teams and to make our story better and better and better through the season. Then you get results in the end. Always.”

Clement, who reportedly rejected a £12million contract with Saudi Arabian side Al-Shabab to take the Rangers reins, doesn’t expect everything to immediately to be “perfect” with a squad riven with imperfections. But he promises “dominant football” in focusing “night and day” on “winning”. Delivering that most weeks, though, cannot be an aim but an imperative. Or else he will be yanked out by his bootstraps, like Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Beale before him.