Philippe Clement sack: Title-winning figure next to depart Rangers
Rangers are cleaning house after pulling the plug on Philippe Clement’s tenure with other senior figures on the way out of Ibrox.
Clement’s seemingly inevitable sacking was finally confirmed on 23 February in the wake of Rangers’ 2-0 loss at home to St Mirren on Saturday; his position having become untenable some weeks prior.
Patrick Stewart and the Rangers board’s attention now turns to finding a long-term replacement for the Belgian, but former captain Barry Ferguson has already been appointed as a short-term stand-in at Ibrox.
Clement departing Ibrox on Sunday leaves his recently-appointed assistant Issame Charai taking training at Auchenhowie for the time being, but it looks like he’ll be the only member of the staff staying put.
Colin Stewart leaves Rangers after Philippe Clement sacking
After Alex Rae and Stephen van der Heyden followed Clement out the door at Ibrox on Monday morning, it’s shared that goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart has also been sent packing by the Gers.
Chris Jack reported for the Rangers Review on 24 February that Stewart has been “informed he has no future at the club”, and as a result leaves Auchenhowie on Monday after several years with Rangers.
Stewart has been the Bears’ goalkeeping coach going back to the title-winning campaign of Steven Gerrard in 2021, and their run to the 2022 Europa League final alongside Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
| Position | Key People |
| Manager | Philippe Clement |
| Assistant manager(s) | Stephen van der Heyden, Issame Charai |
| First-team coaches | Alex Rae, Brian Gilmour |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Colin Stewart |
Colin Stewart a casualty of Philippe Clement at Rangers
Sacking a coach who has helped to oversee a Premiership title victory and European Cup final in the last four years seems somewhat harsh, particularly given Stewart has stayed put during previous upheaval.
The exits of Gerrard, Van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale before Clement’s arrival haven’t seen Stewart shown the door, yet the Belgian leaving will now mean that the 45-year-old is now looking for a new job.
During that title-winning campaign of 2021, Stewart helped to construct a defence which kept 26 clean sheets and conceded just 13 goals, both British records, to finish with a staggering +79 goal difference.
However, the exits of Rae, Van der Heyden and now Stewart alongside Clement only adds to the feeling that a new broom is being swept through Ibrox and Auchenhowie, with greater changes on the horizon.
The impending takeover of 49ers Enterprises looks set to bring about wholesale changes for the Light Blues including players, coaches and Ibrox itself, and a new goalkeeping coach will soon be in situ.