Philippe Clement suggests work set to start on January transfer plans at Rangers
Philippe Clement says Rangers will work hard on assessing what they need to do in the January transfer window to make the team stronger under his guidance.
Squad depth has proved to be an issue for the boss in his early days at Ibrox, with injuries weakening his squad, and he has called for the club to address that situation with players who are capable of stepping into his side.
The boss also touched on what he and his staff will be doing to help improve the current crop of players in all aspects of their game, including fitness and lifestyle.
Clement was speaking to the Daily Record on 27 October, where he shared: “I am here to build the team and make them stronger – that is where my focus lies and not on any external noise.
“We need to work hard in the coming weeks and months to see what we need to do in January. With injuries, you need to find solutions but we had players who were able to step in and that is what I expect.
“We are going to work hard with the players around fitness, recovery, lifestyle and what they do technically. We have done analysis on yesterday’s game and we are building something together.
“We need time, we need hard work, concentration and focus over the next weeks and months. With the right players and the right focus, we can make it a good season.”
Improvements need to be made
Clement will need a degree of backing in the upcoming transfer window to bring in players that will better suit his new tactical style, and improve the squad depth that has let him down so far.
The bench for the clash against Sparta Prague was packed with inexperienced fringe players, not the sort you rely upon to change a tight game in Europe.
It would, however, be understandable if the board at Rangers were hesitant to lend Clement the sort of backing they did in the summer to Michael Beale, given the ultimate result of his transfer surge in an attempt to build a stronger squad.
The likes of Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers in particular have struggled to make a difference at Ibrox despite being brought in by Beale to be the primary goalscorers and to help his tactical style.
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