Philippe Clement press conference scheduled by Rangers amid Ibrox exit talk
Rangers manager Philippe Clement is under immense pressure at Ibrox once again.
The Belgian has managed to hang on to his job so far despite a dismal 1-0 defeat to Queen’s Park (9 February) that saw the Gers exit the Scottish Cup last weekend.
The club’s official X account has not posted anything related to the first team since the shocking loss, which only served to increase speculation that the former Monaco man was set to exit the Govan club.
However, this appears to not be the case after a new update on Clement’s pre-Hearts plans.
Clement set to take Rangers press conference
Despite regular poor performances and a lack of a chance of silverware unless the Light Blues pull off an upset and win the Europa League, Clement appears to be going nowhere.
However, David Edgar has confirmed that the Belgian will address the media ahead of the clash with Hearts on Sunday (16 February).
Asked whether there would be somebody else taking the pre-match media duties on 14 February, Edgar said: “No, it will be him.”
Clement hanging on to his future at Rangers
The Light Blues find themselves 10 points behind arch-rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, they were also defeated by Brendan Rodgers in the Premier Sports Cup final in controversial fashion.
However, the loss to Queen’s Park was the most embarrassing result of the campaign so far and increased the pressure on Clement ten-fold.
It appears that the Gers board is set to back him to turn the situation around though, with minutes of the Fan Advisory Board’s meeting with Patrick Stewart on 5 February coming to light in the last few days.
Supporters will be keen to hear from Clement on what assurances that he has had to provide to ensure that he keeps his role in the dugout and what plans he has to change things in the future but some may choose to boycott matches as long as he is in place.
There is no silver-bullet solution for the Bears and sacking the Belgian would mean they would have to start the process of trying to overhaul Celtic over again, which could take years.
The press conference should provide some clarity for the fanbase, it terms of which direction the club are aiming to go in the future.