Rangers manager news as full Ibrox board stress-test Philippe Clement
Rangers board members in both the United States and Asia were involved as the full Ibrox board stress-tested Philippe Clement, according to the Scottish Daily Mail.
The newspaper reported in its print edition on Monday (16 October, page 60) that the entire Light Blues board were involved in determining whether or not the Belgian was the correct fit to succeed Michael Beale at Ibrox, including members in the US and Hong Kong.
Clement was named as the new Rangers boss on Sunday (15 October) having been in a straight shoot-out for the position with Kevin Muscat, but John Bennett and James Bisgrove, with the help of Graeme Souness opted for the former Monaco manager.
That final selection was then “stress-tested” and sanctioned by the full Rangers board which includes John Halstead and Alastair Johnston in America and George Taylor in Hong Kong.
United board
Rangers were always insistent that they were going to take their time to ensure that they got this appointment right, having rattled through two managers in 10 months and in a process that took roughly two weeks to complete they have stuck to their word.
Clement is a proven winner and although his time in Ligue 1 did end suddenly which could be a cause for concern, overall he lifted Monaco from a struggling mid-table outfit and was able to take them into the top three places of the French league.
What is crucial however, is the fact that the board were all involved and in agreement with the decision to appoint Clement as their new boss, as reports emerged last week that there was a split in the Ibrox hierarchy over who was a a better fit to take over the Light Blues [Andy Devlin, 11 October].
Had that been the case, it could well have been disastrous had things not gone well under Clement’s leadership as you would have had half of the board feeling as though they had known this was going to happen, while the other half attempted to justify their decision.
The entire club and its hierarchy are united behind Clement and now, the Belgian has to pay back that backing and quickly turn around what has been an incredibly disappointing start to the campaign.
In other Rangers news, Kris Boyd has told Clement exactly what he must do first when he arrives in Glasgow