Rangers want manager talks with ex-Monaco boss Philippe Clement after Michael Beale sack
Rangers “want to talk to” former Monaco manager Philippe Clement before they decide which candidates to “put through” to further interviews, according to The Telegraph.
The paper’s Matt Law reported via their website on 3 October that the 49-year-old Belgian is among the candidates that Ibrox bosses want to discuss the role with after sacking Michael Beale two days earlier, along with the likes of Yokohama F Marinos manager Kevin Muscat and AZ Alkmaar’s Pascal Jansen.
The former three-time Belgian title winner with Genk and Club Brugge spent a year and a half with Monaco in Ligue 1 before being sacked this summer and therefore wouldn’t require a fee to be paid to another club.
Beale was sacked after losing his third SPFL game of the season at the weekend to leave Rangers seven points behind Celtic in the league table.
Clement has also had two caretaker spells in charge at Club Brugge and an extensive playing career at the club, before winning three consecutive Belgian titles – first at Genk and then two back at the club he is best known for.
Credentials
It would appear that the Ibrox hierarchy are putting together a proper process to identify the right candidate to succeed Beale, and rightly so.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but it has made the decision to bring back the former assistant to Steven Gerrard just a matter of months into his career as a manager a bad one.
It was a risk at the time, and went ahead in unpopular circumstances at both Queens Park Rangers and among parts of the Gers fanbase, having pledged his commitment at Loftus Road shortly before leaving and also making an Ibrox appearance while Giovanni van Bronckhorst was still in a job.
Links to the club’s past have now resoundingly been proven to be inadequate justification to get the top job without more of a proven track record of success as a manager.
Clement’s time in France ended in the sack but he had a reasonable record in his first half-season, finishing third and reaching the semi final of the French Cup.
And three European titles clearly work in his favour, even if the Jupiler Pro League isn’t one of the big five, especially in light of Muscat’s struggles in the same division.
It may be that somebody who has no link to Ibrox makes most sense at this stage, but a clear plan for what to do with the newly-assembled and underperforming squad is a must.
In other Rangers news, the “outstanding candidate” is thought to have already been approached about the job.