Rangers: Graham Spiers details Celtic reaction to Philippe Clement hire at Ibrox
Graham Spiers admits he’s impressed by Philippe Clement’s CV after Rangers confirmed the Belgian’s arrival at Ibrox on Sunday.
Two weeks on from Michael Beale’s sacking, Rangers announced Clement, 49, as the 19th permanent manager in Ibrox history with reports suggesting he’s signed up until the end of the 2026/27 season [Scottish Sun].
Times and Herald journalist Spiers has reacted to the appointment and while he seems impressed by the ex-Monaco boss, he doubts Celtic fans will think he’ll last too long in Govan.
“Really interesting appointment by Rangers,” said Spiers via his personal Twitter account on Sunday (15 October).
“Philippe Clement has a pretty impressive CV.
“Of course, Celtic fans will say: yet another one for Brendan Rodgers to bat away.”
Who cares what they say?
Rangers have just hired a manager who’s won three titles in a European league more competitive than the Scottish Premiership and has been in charge of one of the top clubs in Ligue 1.
Clement’s done well in his managerial career to date and we expect him to continue that success in Govan.
While it may be hard for him to oversee a turnaround in the Premiership this season thanks to the Michael Beale disasterclass at the start of the season, Clement should at least lift some silverware at Ibrox this season.
All that’s asked of him now is to win the League Cup, win the Scottish Cup, be competitive in the Europa League and bag a few wins against Celtic.
Of course, he has to maintain a strong league position too but with an actual manager in charge and not some mate-of-the-board assistant, there’s every chance even these duds signed by Beale will perform better.
There are some really good players in this squad who need a kick up the backside and Clement should be able to do that if he just does what he did at Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco.
In other Rangers news, a £50million-a-year truth bomb has been dropped on Clement as he arrives in Glasgow.