Rangers Fans NEED to have Patience with Clement as he is the Right Man for the Job
Rangers are currently going through a difficult phase right now. The club aren’t able to play their home games at Ibrox, there isn’t much money to spend in the transfer market, and it’s been a struggle to get big earners off the wage bill. It’s safe to say, it’s not been an ideal summer that Philippe Clement was expecting. The Rangers support are frustrated and quite rightly so – the whole situation, especially regarding Ibrox has been a huge embarrassment from the club.
At the start of August, Clement extended his contract with the Light Blues until the summer of 2028. It came as a surprise as the Belgian still had three years left on his contract before committing his future to an extra two years with the club. Since arriving in Glasgow, it’s been a rollercoaster for the 50-year-old. It started off brilliantly as he won his first trophy with the Gers within two months by defeating Aberdeen in the Viaplay Cup Final, finished 1st in their Europa League group and guided the Ibrox club to the last 16 of the competition.
The second half of the campaign wasn’t as good as the first half. Rangers suffered devastating losses to Motherwell, Ross County and to arch-rivals Celtic, which ultimately cost them a league title that was in their hands, as the they were two points clear of the Hoops in February.
Clement’s men had the chance to end the season on a high by securing their first cup double since 2011, but it ended on a sour note after losing the Scottish Cup Final to Celtic as Adam Idah scored with a minute to go in the game. It’s not been a great start to the season for the former Monaco boss as Rangers crashed out of the Champions League qualifiers to Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 on aggregate, which was a massive blow as the Champions League money would have been a game changer for the club going forward.
The Belgian has made some strange decisions that have merited some criticism as his team selections have been baffling to say the least: starting Scott Wright, someone who is nowhere near good enough to play for a club like Rangers as he offers next to nothing when he’s on the pitch, not giving Danilo more minutes despite him being fully fit, and his persistence with continuing to play Tom Lawrence who has been poor in every game he’s played this season.
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However, Clement has shown enough that he has the personality and capabilities to be a good manager for Rangers. He isn’t immune from criticism but he has been dealt a tough hand by the board as he’s still cleaning up the mess Michael Beale left the club in.
The former Club Brugge manager is in a tough situation where he has to sell players before he can buy anymore and the window shuts in seven days time. Rangers can’t keep going through the cycle of sacking managers. The fans and the board need to have patience with Clement as I’m confident that he will be the right man to bring the glory days back to Ibrox.
By: Scott Bradley / @ScottBradleyX
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Ross MacDonald – SNS Group