Philippe Clement’s Tenure: A Symptom of Deeper Issues at Rangers

Rangers Football Club finds itself at a critical juncture, a recurring theme in recent history. The team’s league performances have been notably insufficient, marking their poorest start to a season since their return to the top division, a period when they were still adapting to Premiership life under manager Mark Warburton. Philippe Clement, who initially lost only one of his first 28 matches as Rangers manager, has since seen his team lose 10 of their subsequent 36 games. This downturn reflects the collapse at the conclusion of the previous season, following their recovery of Celtic’s seven-point lead, as well as the uninspired beginning to the current campaign, which resulted in no Champions League participation and a significant 11-point deficit behind league leaders Celtic, alongside an eight-point gap separating them from Aberdeen. It appears challenging to locate a Rangers supporter who continues to advocate for Clement to receive additional time. The manager’s continued presence might be attributed to Vaclav Cerny’s contributions and the team’s performance in the Europa League. These factors could be pivotal in whether Rangers opts to terminate another manager’s contract or chooses to continue with the Belgian’s strategic plan. Nevertheless, the manager’s current standing seems to be indicative of deeper issues, given the widespread boardroom instability and fan dissatisfaction that have characterized his approximate year in command. While these broader circumstances do not fully absolve the Belgian of responsibility for failing to sustain the initial improvement in Rangers’ footballing results, they warrant consideration during his evaluation. There remains an internal conflict regarding the prudence and feasibility of another managerial change. The financial implications (raising the question of whether Rangers can afford to dismiss Clement or afford not to) and the unavoidable disruption that would ensue are highly detrimental. Despite limited agreement among Rangers fans, it is proposed that a period of patience and the stability potentially offered by new executive appointments could prove more advantageous than initiating a complete rebuild once more. An opportunity will arise to present these concerns to Clement during Wednesday’s pre-Nice news conference. The question remains whether he can elicit another strong European display from a squad that, in domestic competitions, appears to lack creativity, energy, and dynamism. Should Rangers achieve a positive outcome from their match in the south of France, Clement would secure additional time – time he must utilize to ascertain the reasons behind his team’s significant underperformance in the league.