Philippe Clement could face Rangers sack pressure already amid ‘massive’ Michael Stewart view
Rangers’ Scottish League Cup semi-final clash against Hearts next week is a “massive” match for both teams, according to Michael Stewart.
Rangers face Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday (29 October) before taking on Steven Naismith’s side at Hampden Park next Sunday (5 November).
In between is a trip to Dundee for the Light Blues but ahead of the two semi-finals, with Hibernian and Aberdeen being the other, Stewart has shared his verdict on the games.
Speaking on BBC’s Sportscene on Saturday (28 October) about Hibs’ upcoming Scottish League Cup semi-final, Stewart said: “Huge.
“The two semi-finals coming up next weekend are massive games for everybody involved.”
If Philippe Clement doesn’t take Rangers to a Scottish League Cup final – let alone win the thing – he’ll probably find himself under pressure at Ibrox already.
It’s the absolute bare minimum for the new Gers boss to win this competition after Celtic were knocked out early on by Kilmarnock.
But if he doesn’t even get to the final, that would be seen as a criminal failure by the fans – and probably the board, too.
Clement has started life well at Ibrox.
He oversaw a resounding 4-0 win over Hibs last week and did well to get a point in the Europa League away at Sparta Prague on Thursday.
Jack Butland saved the day in the Czech Republic but the Belgian’s options were limited due to injuries and Michael Beale’s stupid decision to not register left-back Ridvan Yilmaz for the competition.
We don’t have any doubts about Clement at the moment but this next week is huge for him because there’s a double-header against Hearts with a trip to Dundee in between.
While there won’t be too many on his backs if he doesn’t pick up six points from the six available in the next two games, he won’t be forgiven if Rangers fail to quality for the Scottish League Cup final against either Hibs or Aberdeen.
Rangers haven’t won this cup since the 2010/11 season and have only reached two finals since then, losing to Celtic on both occasions.
But Celtic aren’t there this time so failure is really not an option.
If Clement cannot win this – what can he win?
In other Rangers news, the Gers have been slammed for a UEFA decision amid a claim a defender should have been sold “yonks ago”.