Philippe Clement looks to have been given his jotters by Rangers after a disastrous few weeks at the helm of the Ibrox club.
In a week where momentum had begun to swing back towards Ibrox, Rangers had the chance to cut the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership and threaten to make things interesting this season.
But amid talk of US takeovers and Celtic dropping points, Philippe Clement blew his final opportunity at Rangers in a disastrous 2-0 defeat to St Mirren.
The axe has finally swung at Ibrox, with Philippe Clement’s historic failure against the Paisley Saints officially ending any goodwill generated from this season’s Europa League run.
And with Jose Mourinho and Fenerbahce on the horizon, Philippe Clement might soon be regretting some comments he made about the Portuguese manager before getting the chop.
Philippe Clement in subtle Jose Mourinho criticism
Reacting to Rangers drawing Fenerbahce in the Europa League, Philippe Clement was asked if he’d ever met Jose Mourinho as a manager.
“To be honest, I think so, yeah,” said a seemingly non-plussed Philippe Clement. “I had Man United a few years ago, but I don’t think it was him at that moment.
“It’s not a personal thing. Like I always said, it’s about the club, it’s about the players. So I’m not so busy against which manager did I manage one moment in time.”
The Rangers manager then gave some soundbites on what he thinks of Jose Mourinho, a manager who is widely regarded as one of the best in football history.
Clement took the opportunity to subtly criticise Jose’s tactics, even if the Rangers manager admitted that he has big respect for the ex-Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid manager.
“Of course he’s somebody who won that many trophies,” said Clement.
“So there are different managers with different styles. He won a lot of trophies in a certain style. I like even more managers with another style, but the respect is there.
“It’s about winning at the end and he did that at several places with several teams and winning the biggest trophies that you can win in the world.
“So yeah, it’s normal to respect a lot somebody who did that.”
Sacked Rangers manager awaits Europa League retort
One journalist smelled blood and Philippe Clement was soon expanding on just what he meant by the subtle Jose Mourinho put down.
The Rangers manager’s face was suddenly a lot sterner, with the Belgian explaining the Portuguese’s style was not his ‘personal preference’.
”He’s somebody who’s more in the defensive and reacting out of that style,” said Clement. “I prefer more the managers, personally, who go full in their attacking force and playing out of that.
“But incredible respect in the way he did it. That’s just a personal preference.”
Within days, Philippe Clement has now been sacked by Rangers, with the manager’s cautious football ironically the source of many of the team’s issues.
Now, Philippe Clement has blown his chance to face Jose Mourinho with the Portuguese manager not even getting the chance to respond before his Belgian counterpart was sacked.
Yes, the Rangers manager had other things on his mind but there’s a smidgen of disrespect we’re sure Jose Mourinho will have picked up on.
We’d be surprised if it’s not a talking point heading into the Europa League clash in March and, as it turns out, neither would Philippe Clement.
“I think you guys will like that, I love that,” when asked about the attention Mourinho is set to bring to the Europa League clash.
“So he’s going to give you a lot of material probably.”
