Rangers boss Philippe Clement reveals football desires cost him his marriage - 'she wanted a normal life'

Rangers will hope Philippe Clement and Ibrox is a match made in heaven, but by the man’s own admission, football has not always been the best for his personal relationships.

Philippe Clement is unveiled as the new manager of Rangers at Ibrox.

In his first meeting with the press this week, Clement was at pains to explain just how much football – and winning – means to him. The 49-year-old Belgian has penned a three-and-a-half year deal to become the 19th manager in Rangers’ history and turned down lucrative offers elsewhere to take on the project in Glasgow. A winner of three Jupiler League titles in his homeland, Clement – a self-named “football beast” – says that the sport is his passion. So much so that it caused him to separate from his first wife.

"I am someone who wants to win always,” Clement said. “It’s the way I am. I had a lot of fights with my ex-wife about that. It was because of football. When my children were small and we were playing games, I never let them win because it’s against my nature. I think also, you need to deserve to win. You can’t get it like a present – not even small children.

“If you do, you don’t create the right mentality. She wasn’t in the same idea about that. At the end, we separated when I stopped playing football and wanted to become manager, first as the under-21 coach, together with being coach of the first-team defenders at Club Brugge. She wanted a normal life, with weekends and more time. She knew that would not be the case and that was the moment we separated. So, it’s about football but it’s my passion.”

Clement alongside Rangers CEO James Bisgrove.

A glance at Clement’s hand shows the glint of a wedding ring. “I have been lucky and later on I met someone who understands my story,” he smiled.

Are Rangers lucky to have him? The former midfielder’s CV certainly stands up to scrutiny. He conquered the Belgian top flight with not just one club but two in Genk and Club Brugge. His time at Monaco ended in June but they previously finished third in Ligue 1 under his watch and rivalled PSG for the attacking exploits. He has pedigree in taking underperforming squads and elevating them to a higher level and has worked with some top players during his career. Out of all the candidates spoken about in the public domain, he was the most impressive. Rangers feel tying the knot with Clement is a coup and it is clear the feeling is reciprocal.

Clement takes great pride in being able to improve players already at clubs he has taken over – and he will need to do so with the vast majority of this underperforming Rangers team. What plays against him is a demanding schedule that kicks in almost instantly. A trip to Sparta Prague awaits on Thursday, kicking off a slew of busy midweeks right up to Christmas. “It’s a big challenge,” Clement says of the hectic schedules being partnered with the need to coach. “But that’s something I like. I like challenges.

“It’s not the first time. I went to Genk in December, when they were eighth or ninth in the league and we finished fifth. We got European qualification and next season we became champions with only one added player in January the year after. So, the season before, they were developing. I went to Monaco on the first of January and found 11 players injured there.

“In the first two months we had 19 Covid cases. So, it was all the time players in-out, in-out. It was a mess, trying to create a structure and a clear story for everyone because they were in and out. In the beginning, results were moderate. But, at the end, when everyone was there, it was really good.

“In the first six months, we got most points in Ligue 1, along with PSG. We went to third place, ten seconds away from second place. So it’s possible but it’s a lot of work and you need commitment of everyone — staff and players to full, really hard in concentration, in lifestyle, in every detail. I will be on top of that and then we can make an evaluation in the next weeks and months — who are the people stepping into the story and giving everything to get success for this club.”

Clement does not look like a man who will suffer fools gladly. “They need to, they don’t have another choice,” he responded when asked if players will accept him looking at their lifestyles. “It’s simple, otherwise you cannot be a football player at a top club. There is no other way. If you don’t have the right lifestyle, you can never be a top player. Yes, you can be for a short period, but not for a long period. Then you don’t belong in a club like here.”

At Monaco, Clement had a successful team but few supporters given the poor crowds the principality club gets on a regular basis. There should be no such problems at Rangers. “It’s a part of my decision,” he said of the fervent fanbase. “I have been lucky in that over the last few months there have been several possibilities for me. I made a sporting choice, compared to other possibilities. Playing here with these 50,000 people was, for sure, one of the main reasons to come here.

"I’m a football beast, so I’ve seen a lot of Old Firm games on television. I haven’t seen one live but it’s not the first time I’ve been in a stadium of 50,000 and it’s really … those are the things I love. If it’s with me or, an away game when it’s against me, I love that atmosphere. These are the things why I want to stay in this world. This is the closest to being a player.”