With only the Europa League to play for now, would Rangers really benefit from sacking Philippe Clement and bringing in a replacement with just three months of the season remaining?
Rangers are already destined to go trophyless domestically. They are 18 points above third-place Aberdeen, and guaranteed to secure a top-two spot if not the one they wanted at the start of the campaign.
And, for all of the Belgian’s critics, Philippe Clement has overachieved in Europe this season. He arguably deserves the chance to finish what he started on the continent.
CEO Patrick Stewart insisted the Rangers board are behind Clement when talking about the under-fire manager’s future back in January.
And unless something changes – Clement survived even that humiliating Scottish Cup defeat to Queen’s Park – it feels far more likely than not that the former Monaco boss will see out the remainder of the campaign on the Ibrox touchline.
Where Rangers go from there, however, is anyone’s guess. Most of the options considered to replace Mick Beale before Clement’s arrival in late-2023 are now in work elsewhere. Pascal Jansen moved to America with New York City. Meanwhile, John Eustace swapped Blackburn Rovers for Derby County.
And Frank Lampard is looking to kick-start his stop-star managerial career south of the border at Coventry City.
Graeme Souness wanted Rangers to hire Frank Lampard over Philippe Clement
Lampard, it seems, was the closest to getting the job before Rangers settled on Clement instead. Ibrox icon Graeme Souness helped advise the club’s board at the time. And, if he’d had his way, Lampard would have been taken Beale’s place instead.
“There was the two outstanding candidates; Frank and Philippe,” Souness told talkSPORT back in October 2023. “The final say wasn’t with me.
“For me, Frank had the edge because of this; Frank, I think, has still got a great deal to offer. Taking the Chelsea job when he did was always going to be very, very difficult. The Everton job is a basket case. And have they improved since Frank left? Not a bit.
“So, I wouldn’t be too critical of Frank. The thing that encouraged me about Frank is that he wanted to do it. He doesn’t need the money. He wants to be a successful manager. And he fancied the Rangers job.”
While doubts continue to linger over his qualities as a head coach, one thing that cannot be questioned as Lampard’s determination to make a success of his post-playing career.
Make no mistake; Coventry City was a daunting challenge. This was a club in turmoil after the sacking of legendary boss Mark Robins – a decision many Sky Blues fanatics disagreed with vehemently – while hovering nervously above the relegation zone in 17th place.
Yet, two months on, Coventry find themselves in the dizzying heights of seventh. From two points off the drop zone to one point off the play-offs.
Lampard could have been onto a loser from day one due to the connection between an irate fanbase and Robins. Instead, he has let his tactics do the talking as a hitherto-reluctant band of supporters begin to warmly embrace his methods.
There have been some bumps in the road – a 4-1 hammering at Portsmouth especially – but Lampard’s record of nine wins from 16 Championship matches is surely beyond the expectations of even the most optimistic of Coventry fans.
Lampard has turned Coventry City from relegation-battlers to promotion-chasers
Six of those wins have come in the last seven games, with only table-topping Leeds United taking points of Lampard’s rejuvenated charges since mid-January.
Ellis Simms’ 92nd minute winner away at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday kept the good feeling going. That, remarkably, wasn’t even Cardiff’s latest matchwinner of the week.
“Really pleased with the players, finding a way to win in a really tough match,” the three-time Premier League winner beamed after that most dramatic of Hillsborough triumphs.
“It was a tough match. They caused us some problems, we also gave them some problems, but we had to defend at times and it’s part of football to be resilient, especially on the road.
“We can be happy with the week. Two late winners are incredible,” Lampard adds, referring to Bobby Thomas’ 94th minute decider against QPR. “But we must stay grounded because they don’t always come.”
It is, of course, impossible to know where Rangers would be right now had the board taken Souness’ advice and sent Lampard walking down the same path as his former England sparring partner Steven Gerrard.
But presuming Coventry’s stunning turnaround is more than an elongated ‘new manager bounce’, Souness was right when he said that a man written off by so many after difficult spells at Everton and Chelsea still had ‘a great deal to offer’.
