Peter Martin hits out after what he has heard about Philippe Clement and Rangers
Philippe Clement can have no complaints about a lack of budget at Rangers, according to Peter Martin.
Assessing the Gers’ situation after they fell 18 points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, Alison McConnell argued that Clement has maintained that he might struggle since the start of the season.
The journalist pointed out how the Belgian has continuously expressed his helplessness at being unable to bring in significant reinforcements in the summer due to budget constraints.
“The opening press conference on the eve of the season kicking off was, ‘We’ve had to cut the wage bill, we’ve not been able to bring players in, we know this is a long rebuild, this is a project'”, McConnell said on PLZ Soccer (11 January).
“Week after week after week you’ve heard that chat.”
Martin quickly raised Alex McLeish’s example, pointing out how the Scot had to work with a restricted budget after Dick Advocaat’s reign.
“No, no, I’m sorry. Alex McLeish, I give you Alex McLeish”, Martin said.
“Alex McLeish had to cut the budget like you would not believe from the Dick Advocaat era.”
McConnell replied: “He still had a substantial stem of money, he still spent money.”
Martin instantly hit back at his colleague by saying Clement has also spent money at Ibrox.
“But [Clement] spent money”, he said.
McConnell, though, stood her ground and said: “He has, but I think that he has fallen over himself every week to say this is a long-term project.
“There was always going to be pain to get to where you want to go. I think there was an acceptance at the start of the season.”
Martin, meanwhile, replied: “I’m not having it.”
Peter Martin is right about Philippe Clement and Rangers
While it is true that Clement has been forced to work on a restricted budget, he cannot have any complaints about the team’s current situation. There are no excuses for falling 18 points behind Celtic in the title race.
The Belgian tactician is guilty of some questionable decisions in the first half of the season. Sticking with Cyriel Dessers as his preferred centre-forward despite the Nigerian continuously disappointing is only one of them.
So, it is no surprise that Clement’s position as Rangers’ manager is constantly scrutinised.
The title appears to be beyond the Light Blues’ reach, but it remains to be seen if the 50-year-old can do enough to save his job.
Although Patrick Stewart has vowed to back Clement for the time being [Sky Sports], he would not hesitate to pull the plug on him if results do not improve.
Rangers notably failed to capitalise on their 3-0 win against Celtic in the Old Firm derby on 2 January, dropping four points in their subsequent games against Hibernian and Dundee.
In other Rangers news, two new signings are on the cards at Ibrox after a brand new transfer reveal.
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