Suddenly, Philippe Clement’s position in the Rangers dugout feels that little bit more secure.
Because just days after CEO Patrick Stewart threw his weight behind the Ibrox boss – he has their full ‘backing’ – Rangers then cruised past Aberdeen at Ibrox in what was their most dominant, complete and coherent performance of 2025 to date.
Yet, while Philippe Clement looks certain to last the season, whether he remains in charge beyond then only time will tell.
Stewart argues that merely chopping and changing managers is far from a ‘silver bullet solution’. Yet, while the chief executive admits that Rangers’ issues go far deeper than the dugout, accepting that both things are not right behind the scenes and that Clement is not the right man to challenge Celtic are not exactly mutually exclusive.
But who would the Premiership’s distant second-place club turn to in the event of Clement’s departure later in 2025?
Rangers were linked with former AZ Alkmaar boss Pascal Jansen before hiring the Belgian but he is now under contract at MLS outfit New York City FC. Kevin Muscat continues to be mentioned, albeit rather tenously.
And while Stephen Robinson’s work at both Motherwell and St Mirren is worthy of respect, the feeling is that the 50-year-old Northern Irishman needs to prove himself at something of a ‘stepping stone’ club before he can realistically be considered for one of the biggest jobs in the country.
Rangers hiring St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson dismissed
The idea of Rangers hiring Robinson was brought up on Clyde Superscoreboard ahead of Aberdeen’s trip to Ibrox on Wednesday night.
Though neither former Gers keeper Cammy Bell nor one-time Hibernian and Livingston stalwart Marvin Bartley can envisage Robinson patrolling the touchline at Rangers.
“He’s done a fantastic job at St Mirren, Motherwell, he’s a very good manager,” says Bell, who spent three years at Ibrox between 2013 and 2016.
“But has he had that top level [experience]? Even the likes of Hibs, Hearts or Aberdeen, that next level? I just don’t know.
“I firmly believe Rangers and Patrick Stewart will be out there looking for who the next manager is if Philippe Clement doesn’t perform. But Stephen Robinson? It’s a surprising shout for me.
“If he’d had that step, no disrespect to St Mirren, even a Championship team down south, I think that [would have been] the next progression of Stephen Robinson.”
Marvin Bartley thinks Ibrox job too big for St Mirren manager
Robinson guided Motherwell to a third-place finish in 2020, their best in nearly a decade, while taking the Fir Park club to both the Scottish Cup and League Cup final in the same season for the first time since 1950/51.
After a brief spell in England with Morecambe, Robinson returned to Scotland in 2022 and has continued to overachieve. His St Mirren side finished fifth and then sixth, with a repeat not out of the question this term.
Yet, like Bell, former defender Bartley feels St Mirren to Rangers would simply be too big of a leap.
“I can’t see that for the reasons Cammy said. I can’t see him jumping from St Mirren to Rangers,” Bartley says. “It would surprise me.
“I think they will keep Clement until the end of the season. It makes perfect sense. They are not going to catch Celtic so give him that time until the end of the season, and its a lot easier prising a manager away in the summer.”
