Rangers sack twist emerges for Philippe Clement despite win v Hearts
Philippe Clement is still under serious pressure at Rangers regardless of the win against Hearts.
The Gers travelled to Tynecastle on 16 February and managed to take three points home with them, albeit in unconvincing fashion.
A second-half strike from Vaclav Cerny and two own goals from Jamie McCart were enough to secure a 3-1 win despite being under the cosh for large spells.
Despite this result, the Belgian head coach has continued to come under fire and could still be insecure in his job at Ibrox.
Philippe Clement still under pressure as Rangers manager
Light Blues supporters aren’t going to forget the humiliating defeat against Queen’s Park any time soon and the performance against the Maroons didn’t impact that.
There were few positives to speak of against Neil Critchley’s side with Ianis Hagi being the shining light for the Gers with multiple excellent moments.
This made Clement’s highly positive post-match comments all the more baffling to Kris Boyd and the Sky studio, who once again were left frustrated by the Belgian.
Journalist Andy Newport says that the 50-year-old is not safe in his job after failing to change the minds of supporters with the latest performance.
Writing in the Daily Record (17 February, page 39) he questioned where the win leaves the ex-Monaco boss as manager in Govan.
He said: “Still clinging on to his job. The Ibrox faithful have long since made their minds up on the beleaguered Belgian and this won’t change anything.”
Rangers unconvincing in win v Hearts
It is fair to say that Hearts had the better of the chances at Tynecastle and unfortunately came up against an excellent performance from Jack Butland in the Gers’ net.
The away side’s goals all had a huge slice of luck with even Cerny’s effort fortuitously falling to him.
By comparison, the Maroons got largely unlucky as multiple chances fell the wrong side of the post while decisions also went against them at times.
Clinton Nsiala arguably got lucky not to give a penalty away but ultimately Clement won’t care as long as his side secured three points.
Regardless of this, the Belgian is still coming under serious pressure and could still be in line to face the sack if results take a negative turn again in the coming weeks.
With the Europa League all that is left to play for, it would take a serious miracle for Clement to prove himself and get rid of the doubters now.