Ally McCoist shares ‘problem’ Philippe Clement faces already at Rangers live on talkSPORT
Ally McCoist has claimed it would be unfair to judge Philippe Clement at Rangers until he is given a transfer window to bring in his own players after the mistakes made in the summer.
The Ibrox legend claimed the problem Clement faces early on in his Rangers spell is that he is working with players brought in by Michael Beale who now look “shot”.
This has come amid suggestions [Mail on Sunday, 3 December] that the boss could face pressure on his job already if results do not go his way in the coming weeks, with key clashes against Real Betis and Aberdeen highlighted.
McCoist was speaking live on talkSPORT [4 December, 06:35], as he insisted: “I’ve got to say I’ve been fairly happy since the new manager came in, Philippe Clement. Still undefeated. I watched the game yesterday, the second half was better than the first half, we deserved the win. It was comfortable.
“I think the problem or one of the problems he’s going to have initially like a lot of managers when they get to a new club is: he’s going to have to get a [transfer] window to get his own players in.
“Because the previous window I think there were three or four players brought in that at this moment in time look shot. They look shot. You can’t judge a manager until he’s got his own team and his own players on the pitch.
“I think we might need a couple of windows before that materialises. However, I think I’ve been pretty impressed with the manager. He’s had a solid enough start, and it’s been a seven and a half out of ten so far. Fairly happy.”
Judgements are coming far too early
As McCoist insists, Clement must be given time and at the very least one transfer window to bring in his own players that suit his system better than some of the current crop who have been disappointing this season under both bosses.
Talk of pressure on his job already seems ridiculous given he is still unbeaten since arriving at Rangers, and while there have been a couple of frustrating results, people must remember he is still in the early stages of making changes to the club and the style of play.
Clement may have been a victim of his early success having immediately changed Rangers’ downward curve of form, but fans need to be realistic and consider he still has plenty to change and work on at Ibrox to improve this team in all avenues.
A defeat in the Viaplay Cup final and failure to progress from their Europa League group will, of course, come as an enormous frustration for Rangers, but until that happens there is no need to speculate.
In other Rangers news, Kenny Dalglish made a “massive” claim about the players’ futures.