Simon Jordan slams Rangers board as Philippe Clement appointed as new manager
Simon Jordan has slammed the Rangers board following the appointment of Philippe Clement, describing the process as “the blind leading the deaf.”
After two weeks of searching, the Ibrox decision-makers appointed Michael Beale’s successor as former Monaco boss Clement on Sunday (15 October), as the Light Blues enlisted their third permanent manager in the last two seasons.
Clement arrives in Glasgow with a reasonable reputation having had success during his time in Belgium and while former Crystal Palace chairman Jordan is reserving judgment on the new boss, he has been left confused by the choices made by those above the manager at Ibrox.
Speaking on talkSport’s White & Jordan on Monday (16 October, 11:45) he said: “I’d be fascinated to see the decision-making process and what Rangers are doing. Gerrard, van Bronckhorst, Beale and now this guy. What’s in the thinking of the people in the boardroom?
“It feels like a case of the blind leading the deaf to me at times. If you get Souness involved, and I don’t know how involved Graeme was, but if you’re going to interview these guys, you need a Souness in the room because of the football and intellectual capital he brings to the equation.
“His understanding of the football club, the scale and size of the expectation. But also, Graeme’s football expertise. But you’ve got to bring that into the equation and I wonder if they did? When I sat in that boardroom, nothing about Rangers told me that there was a lot of progressive thinking going on, with due respect.
“When you get up to this football club, you see the scale of the expectation. I sat next to John Greig and talked to him about the idea of Rangers. You then look around and think ‘I’m not sure you guys get it in the same way that possibly you should.”
Damning
Jordan is clearly irritated here not by the appointment of Clement, rather he has just been left confused by the Ibrox board’s decision-making over the last few years, as there seems to be very little correlation between their last four managerial appointments.
The decision to appoint Beale in the first place has been heavily and rightly criticised as there was little to no evidence to suggest that he was capable of managing a club like Rangers, but then when the Light Blues began to search for their next boss, the same people who appointed Beale found Clement.
That is not to say that Clement will not be a success as his CV is much more impressive than Beale’s and he seems a better fit for Rangers. But it is fair of Jordan to wonder how these decisions are being made as there is little transparency over the process.
However, should Clement succeed in Glasgow and return the Gers to the top of the Scottish Premiership tree, nobody will be criticising the board for their previous decisions. If a team is only as good as its last performance, a board is only as good as its last appointment.
On top of all that, Jordan made his fair share of managerial mistakes when he was Palace chairman so who is he to judge the Light Blues’ work behind the scenes?
In other Rangers news, the Gers board is already prepared to back Clement when the transfer window opens