Patrick Stewart to ‘sack untouchable Philippe Clement’ amid Rangers ‘malaise’
Patrick Stewart has been given an ultimatum to sack Philippe Clement as the manager continues to be “untouchable” at Rangers.
Clement is under serious threat of being sacked at Ibrox after the Light Blues suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup at home on Sunday, 9 February.
This means that the Glasgow giants have been knocked out of the cup by a team sitting fifth in the second division of Scottish football.
With Celtic already claiming the League Cup and the Premiership increasingly out of the Gers’ reach, many want Clement to be relieved of his duties now.
Patrick Stewart must act now
Michael Stewart is of the view that the CEO is a in difficult position at the moment as not sacking Clement due to Rangers’ financial constraints could make him “untouchable”.
Therefore, the pundit believes Patrick Stewart needs to find the funds to pull the plug on the Belgian tactician somehow to avoid “malaise” creeping in at Ibrox.
“At the moment, Patrick Stewart is in a very difficult position because if he doesn’t get rid of the manager, I think there becomes a stage and a level where people then feel that Clement – the perception – is untouchable and the reason is they can’t sack him”, Stewart said on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club (10 February).
“That becomes a self-perpetuating issue in itself, or he has to find the money and act now, and that’s what I think he actually needs to do because there is a malaise that creeps in.”
Rangers to sack Philippe Clement?
There have been doubts over Clement’s future as Rangers’ manager since the season started.
At one point, it seemed as if the former Monaco boss was clinging onto the job just because the Glasgow giants did not have a CEO or a permanent chairman in place.
However, they have since hired Stewart and Fraser Thornton as their CEO and chairman respectively, meaning there are people capable of making the decision to sack the 50-year-old.
Stewart, though, is yet to make that decision and it is possible that it is due to the club’s financial constraints.
Celtic boast a 13-point lead over Rangers in the Scottish Premiership after 25 games and it is hard to see Clement and Co catching up to them.
The UEFA Europa League is, therefore, the manager’s only chance to win a trophy this season, and too is a herculean task.
Therefore, it would make sense for the Premiership heavyweights to stick with Clement as their manager until the end of the season as they appear to be destined to end the season with a trophy anyway.
However, should the results in the league and Europe continue to worsen, Stewart will be left with no choice but to axe Clement.