Michael Stewart baffled by what Philippe Clement has just done at Rangers
Michael Stewart was stunned by what Philippe Clement has done at Rangers with the Belgian under increasing pressure to keep his job at Ibrox.
Rangers suffered an embarrassing defeat against Queen’s Park last time out, ending any hopes they had of achieving domestic cup success this season.
Many labelled it as the biggest upset in Scottish Cup history, with the pressure intensifying on Clement as a result of that.
Their exit caused enough unrest, but the decisions made by the Belgian in the game have opened him up to even more criticism, with Stewart baffled by what Clement did.
Philippe Clement baffles with Rangers decision
Rangers are enduring a horrid campaign, with the result against Queen’s Park just providing the final touch to the disaster spearheaded by Clement.
However, one decision in particular baffled Stewart when speaking on BBC Radio Scotland (15 February).
“My problem with Philippe Clement is that, yes he’s under pressure, but he made decisions, and second half he took off Ianis Hagi who wasn’t having a great game, but you replace him with a left back,” Stewart said.
“Then he tries to justify it and make out a narrative as if they’ve dominated the game and were battering Queen’s Park and just couldn’t score. That wasn’t the game.
“It’s been like this for a while, just bubbling under the surface band then a result like that comes and just tops it up even more.”
Hagi has become somewhat of a scapegoat under Clement, but the way the Belgian has handled some of his players makes it unsurprising.
Time is up for Philippe Clement at Ibrox
Unless the Light Blues can pull off a Europa League miracle, it looks all but set to end in a season without silverware and Clement is the main man to be held accountable for that.
His inability to adapt to a situation has been the main catalyst behind their regression which has left them playing for little other than dignity. Of which they have little left after the defeat to Queen’s Park.
There have been no signs that Clement is capable of turning their fortunes around and it begs the question as to how he has been afforded this much time in the Rangers dugout.
While changing manager now is unlikely to bring immediate success, it certainly allows someone to come in and make changes to the side ahead of a fresh start next season, in which Rangers need to improve massively.
That stands for all areas of the club, with improvements to be made in several departments if they are to get back on track to a side capable of challenging Celtic for trophies.
The upcoming summer is certainly a big one for the Light Blues if they are to avoid repeating the failures of this season.