Philippe Clement was not wrong, it seems, when he said after Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Dundee that he retained the confidence of the Rangers board.
While large sections of the fanbase appear to have lost patience – former players Kris Boyd and Billy Dodds joining the pile-on with the club’s away form nothing short of ‘outrageously poor’ – Clement is ‘200 per cent’ convinced that he has Rangers’ backing.
And as thousands of frustrated supporters awaited the words of Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart with baited breath, any of those hoping to see Clement’s departure confirmed ahead of Sunday’s clash with St Johnstone will have been disappointed.
Stewart knows that he and the club’s new chairman – Rangers hired Fraser Thornton a fortnight ago – are under ‘the spotlight’.
But, as the chief executive of one of European football’s most historic and best-supported clubs, difficult, sometimes unpopular, decisions are just part of the job description.
Patrick Stewart confirms Rangers are backing Philippe Clement
“There’s been a lot of talk about results, and there’s been a lot of talk about the manager, and I know that the spotlight is on Fraser [Thornton] and myself, but particularly on me,” Stewart says. “That’s the job, I’m okay with that.
“I need to make some tough decisions. It comes with the role, but I am committed to making the right ones for Rangers, not just the popular ones. So cutting to the chase, we are backing Philippe at this time as a board.”
In an official statement released on Friday night, Rangers fan group Union Bears hit out not only at Clement but at a board they feel has to take their share of the blame for the club’s current predicament.
Stewart is not shying away from the fact that the roots of the problems go a lot deeper, meanwhile, than the man in the dugout.
Ibrox CEO says results must improve but problems deep-rooted
“It’s about taking a deeper look at the issues, addressing those problems, and staying focused on building a stronger future for the club. Changing a manager isn’t a silver bullet solution,” Stewart adds.
“It’s not effective at a lot of football clubs where there’s constant change of manager. What I do need to do, and what the board are supporting me with, is uncovering the underlying issues and addressing those.
“And there’s been quite a lot of supporters’ comments, and one that particularly jumped out at me was, you know, some supporters’ comments are, we want to change a manager.
“I think others are, look, this isn’t just about the manager. It’s more about what’s going on at the football club. Because there’s been several years where we’ve been underperforming, and there’s something deeper rooted here, and I agree with that.
“So I think that’s what we need to do, we need to look beneath the surface.”
Clement is Rangers’ sixth permanent head coach since Mark Warburton led the club back to the Premiership less than a decade ago. And while results and performances may be underwhelming, Clement’s CV – a three-time Belgian league title with Club Brugge and Genk – speaks for itself.
Rangers will not be pursuing short-term solutions
“If we rush and react every time there’s some poor results, we’re in danger of just being back in the same place in a year’s time or 18 months’ time or however long,” Stewart explains. “But I want to be clear, look, I’m not saying everything is fine, and I think the fans are frustrated, I get that.”
“We wouldn’t make any decision on a manager based on financial reasons, absolutely not. Football is results-based and I’m not offering any guarantees as to length of tenure because it’s all about improving results.
“Philippe and I have had that discussion so it would be foolhardy of me to say we retain any employee irrespective of results. Of course it’s results-based but equally we all want to work together to improve that and that’s what we’re focused on at the moment.”
“One of the reasons I’m here is I want to speak to supporters to say we’re not happy with results, no one’s happy with results, but equally we’re not happy with the short-term quick fixes that have been applied in the past and not worked. We’ve got to dig deeper and we’re really committed to digging deeper and doing it quickly.
“This is about really taking a step back, digging deep and we’re doing this to create long-term sustained success – not just the odd trophy here and there.”
