Philippe Clement must avoid first Rangers misstep after Steven Davis meeting
Philippe Clement started his first day of work as Rangers manager on Monday (16 October), but questions remain over who will join the Belgian’s backroom coaching staff.
Stephan van der Heyden is expected to be appointed as assistant manager [Chris Jack, 15 October] after holding previous roles at Lokeren and Club Brugge in Belgium.
Another name that has been put forward for a coaching role at Ibrox is Steven Davis, who is still technically a Rangers player but is slowly transitioning into a career post-playing.
Davis has not kicked a ball since last December due to a double ACL tear, which is hard enough to recover from when at peak fitness, never mind when approaching your 39th birthday.
After a two-game spell as caretaker manager following Michael Beale’s sacking, Davis has now had a taste of coaching life and recently hinted that may be of interest to him.
According to Sky Sports reporter Gordon Duncan on Monday (16 October), Davis and Clement arrived at the Gers’ Auchenhowie training base at the same time on the latter’s first day in the office. That can only suggest the pair were holding talks with regards to Davis’ future.
Clement will have his own ideas when it comes to moulding his backroom staff, of course, but it would be a misstep on his behalf if he does not keep Davis on board.
The Northern Irishman knows the club better than anyone, having spent 10 seasons at the club across two spells, while he also has knowledge of the current playing squad.
The 3-0 win over St Mirren that Davis oversaw prior to the international break also suggests he is not too bad a coach in his own right, although it must also be mentioned that his first game in temporary charge ended in defeat to Aris Limassol.
Using Davis as a conduit between the coaching staff and players makes perfect sense, and it may well be that the long-serving midfielder is a future Gers manager in the making.
Let’s hope that Clement takes full advantage of the easy win that has presented itself to him very early on in his tenure.
In other Rangers news, a BBC pundit has suggested that Clement may face talk of being sacked as early as next month if a certain result goes against him.