While Pep Guardiola has more than enough credit in his Manchester City bank to ride a wave of dreadful results, the same cannot be said of Philippe Clement in the Rangers dugout.
The Ibrox boss is under pressure again following that Scottish Cup debacle, his future once more dominating headlines and bar queue debates up and down the land.
And, following just one League Cup crown and one Old Firm victory since arriving as Rangers head coach in late-2023, it’s not as if Philippe Clement can point to a vast collection of trophies as proof that he deserves the chance to turn the ship around.
Pep Guardiola may have survived arguably the most testing period of the Abu Dhabi era – only eight wins but 12 defeats from their last 24 matches in all competitions – but the all-conquering Catalan has more than earned the opportunity to dictate for himself if and when his time at the Etihad Stadium comes to an end.
A luxury Clement can only dream of.
Philippe Clement makes Pep Guardiola comparison as Rangers talks ramps up
“I [tried] as fast as possible to react, to do the right things, to give the fans the right things also,” Clement protests, the autopsy still ongoing as a fleet of scalpel-wielding reporters again dig into that Queen’s Park catastrophe.
“Not one manager in the world has guarantees. Maybe Guardiola at Man City, but he deserves it also after all the things he did in a long spell there. So, that’s part of football.”
In truth, the coach does not sound like a man fearing an immediate booting out of the Ibrox door.
CEO Patrick Stewart recently insisted that Rangers remain behind Clement, though one of the greatest Scottish ‘cupsets’ of recent years is a surefire way of shaking that confidence.
Clement argues that Rangers did not deserve to be on the losing side against their second-tier opponents at Ibrox. Queen’s Park’s heroic goalkeeper Calum Ferrie made a series of stunning stops in the dying stages, turning aside a James Tavernier penalty.
Former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday feels Philippe Clement’s excuses are wearing thin, however, with many of their 28 shots speculative efforts from range rather than genuine chances.
Clement desperate for Rangers to bounce back with Hearts clash
“We spoke about the game and that the result didn’t reflect the game,” Clement protests. “But, of course, we need to react and that’s the most important thing after a defeat, an unacceptable defeat, going out of the cup where we’re all devastated about and sick about.
“And that’s been the case the first days of the week. For everybody, all of us, you need to react now. That’s the important thing.”
After losing on penalties to Celtic in the League Cup final in December, while falling 13 points behind their Old Firm neighbours in the Premiership table, Rangers are facing a long old slog towards the end of another underwhelming campaign with only the Europa League to fight for.
The Glasgow giants face Hearts at Tynecastle in their first outing since the lowest point of Clement’s tenure this Sunday.
“It’s about picking up the team again,” the former Genk, Monaco and Club Brugge boss says. “To be really clear also about the mistakes we made.
“We made a big review about this game. [We must] take the right conclusions and then to work towards the next game.”
