One thing we’ve learned since the sacking of Michael Beale and the hiring of Philippe Clement as Rangers manager, is that it had been coming for some time.
A poor pre-season followed by opening day defeat to Kilmarnock was then topped by a calamitous week that saw PSV Eindhoven end our Champions League hopes and Celtic win at Ibrox – Aberdeen was the icing on the cake.
Philippe Clement has a big task on his hands to make inroads into Celtic’s lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership but the new Rangers boss isn’t getting carried away, as told to Sky Sports.
Compare what Clement has said since arriving to what Beale said before he even got the job.
That if he and the rest of Steven Gerrard’s management team hadn’t left, that the league would have been retained.
Ignoring completely how poorly we had been playing that season, despite sitting top of the league.
Philippe Clement focussed on Rangers, not Celtic
With a fight on his hands to turn things around, Philippe Clement isn’t looking any further than one game at a time for Rangers, via Sky Sports:
“Firstly, I want to win everything. You want to win every competition you play.
“Secondly, regarding the gap [to Celtic], it’s important we focus on ourselves and important we focus on what we have to do to become better, get more points, play better football, get the fans behind the team and get a better dynamic again.
“It’s important to not look too far ahead about what could happen in six months. It’s about now, the next weeks and the next months. Week by week we need to build the story.”
It’s a similar situation to the one that Alex McLeish inherited.
If Philippe Clement can be as successful in his first two seasons at Rangers then we’ll have won a watch but the league shouldn’t, as he said, be written off.
Week by week is key, and if the gap can be closed before the winter break after the next Old Firm derby, then hopes will be higher.
Throw in a league cup trophy and momentum can easily shift.
The gap won’t be closed without playing better and that is clearly Clement’s number one objective, does that and he’ll have fans on board.
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