It’s hard not to feel sorry for Rangers manager Philippe Clement at times.
The Belgian has walked into a chaotic job at Ibrox, with boardroom and transfer incompetence hamstringing the club in the midst of a crucial rebuild.
At the same time, Old Firm rivals Celtic are the picture of stability and have seen the financial gap swell following Rangers’ failure to reach the Champions League.
Rangers let slip their brief period of dominance in Scotland and since then have been scrambling to rebuild.
Steven Gerrard’s exit was initially softened by the arrival of Giovanni van Bronckhorst but a failure to move on Gerrard’s boys came back to bite.
Michael Beale – signed having trained the majority of the squad as Gerrard’s assistant – was then entrusted with rebuilding the team. It did not go well.
With the club now on its fourth manager in three years, Rangers have committed to Philippe Clement who now has the unenviable task of mopping up the mess amid a surge of negativity at Ibr-, sorry, Hampden.
Clement laments Rangers contract situation
The disastrous handling of player contracts between wages and letting them run down has been a huge source of frustration for the Rangers gaffer.
In little over 12 months, Rangers have seen previously influential players like Allan McGregor, Scott Arfield, Filip Helander, Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, John Lundstram, Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack, Kemar Roofe and Jon McLaughlin walk out the door for nothing.
Whilst plenty of these were well past their sell-by date, Rangers failed to cash in when their stock was highest and the club now has to put up cash to replace them.
The Gers have also lost a hugely influential amount of experience from the dressing room.
Asked about the rumbling feeling of discontent and threats of protest at Rangers, Clement has once again referred to player contracts as a major issue.
Many of these deals were signed during the sporting directorship of now-Nottingham Forest director Ross Wilson.
As a result of the situation, Clement has hinted that someone could be allowed to leave with no transfer fee due to their high wages.
“I think these (protests) happened much more than 10, 20 years ago,” Clement told the press. “There’s a shift in that all over Europe in that way.
“I think the first thing that fans don’t want is to come in the same situation as 12 years ago. They don’t want that.
“So they need to understand that the club tries to do all the good things. And stay healthy. And get results.
“So if you have six players, end of contract, and maybe you need to let go somebody else also for free to cut down the wages. It costs time to rebuild that.
“I know a big part of the fans understand that. Maybe some not. Can be.
“So we need to focus on showing them that we want to give everything, every day for this club.
“The players need to show that on the pitch and get results. And there’s only one thing important for fans, it’s winning games. I know.
“So we need to focus on showing them that we want to give everything, every day for this club.
“The players need to show that on the pitch and get results. And there’s only one thing important for fans, it’s winning games. I know.”
The comment will give rise to suspicions about which player Philippe Clement was referring to with regards leaving on a free.
The obvious choice is Connor Goldson, who was one of Rangers’ highest earners and moved to Aris Limassol this summer.
Whilst the fee is officially undisclosed, reports in Cyprus have claimed Rangers recouped around £1.4m for Goldson.
Another option is Dutch striker Sam Lammers, but reports have suggested that Rangers banked around £2.7m on the sale of Lammers to FC Twente.
It really only leaves Ianis Hagi, who is currently training with the B team as he tries to negotiate an exit out of Rangers.
There were reports last week that Rangers would be willing to let £3m midfielder Hagi leave for nothing to get him off the wage bill.
Clement turned down ‘chance’ to leave Rangers
There’s a real feeling of thanklessness at Rangers as things currently stand.
These comments from Philippe Clement came after the Rangers manager had admitted there remains big obstacles in the club’s recruitment plans this summer.
Rangers must ship out several of the club’s wantaway stars and bad eggs before they can move on what will be a B list of targets.
This comes after Rangers’ costly failure to reach the Champions League group stages this season.
Whilst Clement is clear that he is committed to the task at hand at Rangers, the sounds around the manager are increasingly defiant and stoic, if not a tad despondent.
There is no doubt Big Phil has Rangers in his heart but there are major doubts that the club and manager can navigate this early season storm before a full-blown fan revolt takes place in the stands.
Claiming that he had the chance to leave the club in recent months, ‘masochist’ Clement claims that he relishing the challenge.
“It’s a massive job,” Clement told the press ahead of the Premier Sports Cup clash with St Johnstone. “And I knew it. And it was for me so easy to not do it.
“But maybe that’s my… I don’t know if it’s a word in English. My masochist side. No, no. I love this club, really. And I only had one time that feeling with the club. And it was in Brugges where I was 16 years because it was my second family.
“I feel after seven months like really part of this club. I could not leave this project now. That was impossible. Although there were chances for that. No.
“But I know we need time to build things. And I cannot say how fast things will go. But I can say that everybody is working really hard. And I’m really confident of the future of this club.
“Because now decisions are made to keep this club healthy, first. Secondly, to think short term, yes, where possible. But thinking also about long term. And this is what this club needed.
“Do I love to be in a club where my heart is and they can spend cash all over? And I can get experienced players and to have a squad where every position is double or triple? Yeah, of course, I would love that.
“But I knew before it would not be the case. But I don’t run away of it. No, I see it as maybe the biggest challenge there is. And I love a challenge.
“I’m very, very confident in the way that everybody is working here together now. And communicating together that we will reach our goals.
“Will it be the next month or in three months or in six months? That’s more difficult to predict. But this club is on the good way and on the healthy way.
“This is what this club needed. Because otherwise you go to the problems of the past. And that’s not what anybody who loves this club wants.”
Clement was then asked if he feels ‘responsible’ for turning the tide at Ibrox:
“I feel this responsibility. And I like also this responsibility.
“Because there are so many things that we still can do here. But we need to be inventive to do it with less money than your great opponent in the league. That’s the reality. And we know.
“So if you can reach that, that’s much stronger than just having the cash and to do it with the cash.”
Rangers chairman John Bennett publicly threw his support behind Philippe Clement before handing the Belgian a new contract on the eve of the new season.
There is scant optimism that his team can turn the tide this campaign and mount a serious title challenge.
It’s up to Clement and his team to prove everyone wrong and it starts with the Premier Sports Cup clash v St Johnstone.
