Philippe Clement: Rangers back under-fire boss amid struggles
2025-01-11
Category: sports

Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart says manager Philippe Clement has the board's backing despite a 15-point deficit to Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.A draw at Dundee on Thursday was the eighth time in 11 away league matches Rangers have failed to win, leaving the Ibrox side well behind their rivals.Clement has overseen impressive performances in the Europa League this season as Rangers have a chance to finish in the top eight, and secured his first Old Firm derby win on 2 January with an emphatic 3-0 win against Celtic.Rangers lost the League Cup final on penalties and continue to toil away from Ibrox in the Premiership, but Stewart said removing the manager is not a "silver bullet"."I need to make some tough decisions, it comes with the role, but I am committed to making the right ones for Rangers, not just the popular ones," Stewart said in a media briefing after fans voiced their displeasure with the manager after Thursday's draw."We are backing Philippe at this time as a board. It's about taking a deeper look at the issues, addressing those problems, and staying focused on building a stronger future for the club. Changing a manager isn't a silver bullet solution."
Stewart started his role on 16 December after Rangers went six months without a chief executive following the departure of James Bisgrove to Saudi Arabia, while chairman John Bennett also had to step down in September for health reasons.New chairman Fraser Thornton also began his role last month after a period of uncertainty in the Rangers boardroom, which Clement has had to contend with.Rangers sacked Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale in the last two campaigns after poor starts to the league campaign, but Stewart, who was interim CEO at Manchester United, said he and the club need to grapple with wider issues.Rangers reported a Â£17m loss last year but Stewart insisted keeping faith with Clement is not a "financially-driven decision".He confirmed a "root-and-branch review of the entire football department" will begin on Monday and said he met with Clement on Friday night to discuss results on the pitch."I can't give Philippe any cast-iron guarantees," added Stewart. "He and I have both been around football long enough to know that isn't the case."Equally, I'm not going to get into how many games does Philippe have to save his job, that's not what we're about. "We're about helping Philippe to identify why is there the inconsistency, and let's address that."
January 'not a fruitful window'
The Rangers chief executive also addressed the club's transfer plans and admitted January "isn't a particularly fruitful window".However, he did confirm they are looking at centre-back options amid a current defensive injury crisis and there could be opportunities to fast-track moves for some players on their radar.Overall, Stewart's message was the club had spent too much money on "quick fixes" and the plan was to avoid "repeating the same mistakes" in the transfer market."We are making sure it's the club signing players and not the manager signing players or signing players for a specific manager," said Stewart. "So we need to do have real focus and discipline when it does come to player trading."Injuries have created challenges, but they're returning and that will bolster the squad without us having to panic buy. And that's what we want to avoid, is any panic buying."