Graeme Souness admits he would have hired Frank Lampard over Philippe Clement for Rangers manager’s job
Graeme Souness has admitted he would have hired Frank Lampard over Philippe Clement as Rangers manager, while live on talkSPORT.
The Gers legend was part of the interview process and named both candidates as the “outstanding” options the club had to choose from.
While the board opted for Belgian Clement in the end, Souness told Jim White and Simon Jordan (26 October, 11:27) that he felt Lampard “had the edge” but he didn’t have the final say in the matter.
“There were two outstanding candidates; Frank and Philippe,” Souness said. “The final say wasn’t with me.
“For me, Frank had the edge because of this; Frank, I think, has still got a great deal to offer. Taking the Chelsea job when he did was always going to be very, very difficult. The Everton job is a basket case. And have they improved since Frank left? Not a bit.”
“So, I wouldn’t be too critical of Frank. The thing that encouraged me about Frank is that he wanted to do it. He doesn’t need the money. He wants to be a successful manager. And he fancied the Rangers job.
“(Clement) interviewed brilliantly. He’s got presence. He’s got a very, very good CV and he played the game. He was an outstanding candidate, and that’s why the board went with him. I fully get that.
“Football players are a cynical judge. You stand in front of them, and they are judging you. This guy has got presence, stature and his English is excellent. He talks what I think is sensible football chat. He’s not making it too scientific like a hell of a lot of coaches do today.”
Interesting
It’s going to be very interesting to see how this one plays out, because Souness isn’t someone who Rangers fans doubt very often.
But when news broke of the managerial candidates in the running for the job after Michael Beale was sacked, there weren’t many who were happy to see Lampard’s name on the list.
The fan backlash was great enough that the board quickly dismissed the chances of hiring him, but it’s clear he made an impression with Souness to the point where it was between him and the man who eventually got the job.
Souness is clearly a fan of Clement too which bodes well as there isn’t an immediate pressure, but with the legendary Scotsman making this public it does raise the question of how close Lampard was to the job before the fans got involved and made their voices heard.
Ultimately we’re all backing Clement now, but with Souness closing in on a return to the club in a consultancy role if pressure begins to build we can now expect Lampard to be firmly in the running once again.
In other Rangers news, ex-PL manager confirms Gers deal “close” as Jim White moots announcement soon.