Rangers to make Philippe Clement exit decision after Old Firm defeat v Celtic
Rangers will not sack Philippe Clement and will give him the rest of the season to turn things around at Ibrox, according to Andy Halliday.
The Gers boss has come under increased pressure from supporters and pundits alike following the Light Blues’ 3-0 thrashing by Celtic at Parkhead on Sunday (1 September) with some suggesting he could be sacked.
Although the Belgian has yet to beat Brendan Rodgers since arriving in Glasgow, Open Goal pundit Halliday has told the Ibrox board it would be wrong to make a change in the dugout at this stage.
Speaking on the Open Goal YouTube channel (3 September, 31:55) Si Ferry asked: “Do you think the manager will get the full year?”
Halliday replied: “I do, I don’t think he should lose his job if that’s what you’re asking me. I think if Pep Guardiola took Rangers tomorrow I wouldn’t fancy Rangers to win the league, to be honest.
“I don’t even know, for me I think Rangers had to be perfect all summer in terms of all their recruitment, all their decision making and then the first decision is their stadium isn’t ready for the start of the season so what a start they’re off to there.”
Will Rangers sack Philippe Clement after Old Firm loss v Celtic at Parkhead?
While any Rangers manager is going to come under pressure when he is not winning matches, it does feel as though the general consensus around Clement is that he deserves time to get going at Ibrox.
The Belgian has come into a club in a mess under Michael Beale and has arguably spent the first year of his tenure in Glasgow undoing the mistakes made by the Englishman during his time in charge of the Light Blues.
However, after two transfer windows in charge of the Gers that have seen Clement bring plenty of his own players through the door, results simply have to start to pick up or the board will have a decision to make.
While a change of manager is unlikely to solve many if any of the immediate problems faced by the Light Blues, sometimes in football it is the easiest thing to do to get fans back onside.
Halliday may well be right and the Gers boss could be given the rest of the season to turn things around, but things can always change remarkably quickly in the footballing world.
In other Rangers news, Kevin Muscat was understood to be “devastated” to miss out on the manager’s job at Ibrox to Clement
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