Philippe Clement has had a mixed relationship with the press since coming into the role of Rangers manager.
At times the Belgian manager has shown himself as a shrewd operator in the media, using it to leverage support for his team as an expectant Rangers fanbase grumbles.
But in others Philippe Clement has been caught short by a baying media who will forensically analyse everything the manager says to the finite detail.
Amid recurring issues with injuries, initially playing down now ‘longer-term issues’ will not curry favour with Rangers fans pretty fed-up with the state of the squad’s fitness, for example.
And there is one line which Philippe Clement uttered when the skies were briefly blue in the early part of the season that will be held against him in the weeks and months ahead.
Philippe Clement expects ‘best Rangers’ this month
If you cast your mind back to late August, Rangers had their most comprehensive result of the season against Ross County at Ibrox.
Thrashing the Staggies 6-0 in Glasgow, it was an impressive result and performance from a new-look Rangers who were starting to get the message from Clement and his coaching staff.
Whilst the victory would be undone a week later when Rangers hobbled out of Parkhead bruised and bloodied, there are plenty Rangers fans who’ve bookmarked Clement’s post-County comments.
The Rangers manager told fans then that he expects to see ‘the best’ Rangers team in October or November, with disgruntled supporters expecting the Belgian to stick true to that promise.
“The team is on the right track,” Clement told the press in late August. “We’re only, yeah, end of August now.
“There is still a long way to go and like I said, I expect to see the best Rangers in October, November.
“I know people maybe didn’t like that, that moment that I said that, but it’s a logical thing.
“We’re building a new squad with a lot of new players and they’re taking the right lessons.
“And the players who were here are also hungry to become better and to learn all the details.”
Rangers manager to live and die by his own words
As we head into the October international break, Rangers can reflect on an interesting period between the October fortnight and that in September.
The club has managed to, if not unconvincingly at times, keep pace with both Aberdeen and Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
The five point gap established in the first part of the season has not gotten any wider.
Rangers too have navigated the early stage of the Premier Sports Cup and have a Hampden semi-final against Motherwell to look forward to in November.
On Europa League duties, Clement’s side put in their ‘best performance’ of the season in the 2-0 win away to Malmo.
But the scar tissue of recent humblings has been reopened by that 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Lyon, not helped by Rangers’ real problem with inconsistent finishing.
Despite the progress, there remains frustrations amongst Rangers fans who fear for this new-look side whenever they come up against opposition of a higher level.
Philippe Clement reckons his best Rangers team is just around the corner but between injuries and a lack of consistency the Ibrox support remain unconvinced.
The Scottish Premiership clash with Aberdeen at the end of October is looming large for a number of reasons and will be a big test of Clement’s title credentials.
But for Rangers fans unconvinced by what they’re seeing so far this season at Ibrox, can Clement’s team live up the manager’s prediction?
