After an intensive hunt for the 19th permanent Rangers manager the board have made their decision and the new man in the hot seat is 49 year old, Phillipe Clement. Clement beat a host of names to the role with Frank Lampard, Scott Parker, Kevin Muscat and more all considered before determining the Belgian was the man to bring the good times back to Ibrox.
Phillipe Clement became the 19th Permanent Rangers manager on Sunday
The Belgian manager arrived at Ibrox sporting a smart - casual look in jeans, shirt and tie which seemed to get a reaction from the Twiteratti amongst our support. When he began talking he was all business though and if truth be told I enjoyed listening to him. Communication with the players shouldn’t be an issue with him displaying a good grasp of the English language. He also understands the game from the side of the players with a winning career behind him as both a player and a manager.
Our previous manager was a self styled “student of the game.” Clement seems to have a similar interest in the game, however he doesn’t see himself as a student but simply a “winner.” He went on to explain since he was a young boy he just wanted to win at everything he did. This has carried through his career as a player (winning 9 major honours in Belgium) to his managerial career where he won the Belgian Super League with two different teams.
As he has gone through the interview process it appears he didn’t countenance not getting the job with him explaining today, he was reviewing every game Rangers had played this year as he went through the process. He has already identified some of the key issues the team has faced, citing a lack of confidence and lack of identity as two of the initial problems he will have to overcome. Now he has the job these issues move from theoretical to top priority to be fixed.
So what faces Clement as he starts work at Auchenhowie tomorrow? One of his most immediate concerns will be setting up his backroom team. We’ve now had confirmation Stephan van der Heyden will be joining Clement as his assistant manager but that leaves multiple coaching positions vacant and he will surely need all the help he can get. I expect he will quickly fill these vacant roles so he can get as much improvement out of the squad as possible.
Van der Heyden will work alongside Clement as his assistant manager.
Whilst he works to appoint a backroom team he will also need to get to know his existing staff and players. We all know a lot of the current crop of players are suffering from a lack of confidence but there is a big difference between seeing it and fixing it. Just going in and telling them they are better than what they are showing wont cut it in this situation. In a very short space of time he will need to understand what makes the players tick. Do they respond to praise, to a challenge or will he have to take it further and break them before building them back up in some cases? Man management is perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of a managers role, especially when no two players will be exactly the same. He can’t approach this aspect at a squad level, the only way he gets results is by going down to an individual basis for each player, understanding what they need from him and then providing it. There is a reason that some very good coaches don’t go on to be good managers and usually it centres around their man management abilities.
We also need some sort of identity to our play and this is probably the other pressing issue to address before Hibs show up at Ibrox. There is precisely zero chance of the team coming out with an entirely new philosophy that they are proficient in, come next weekend. Ideas take time to get across and Clement specifically noted in his RTV interview that it would take time for the players to absorb his ideas. That said, the fans will need to see some idea of what is to come, especially after one of the biggest complaints previously being a lack of identity. If we see things being tried and failing sometimes I can accept that but I at least need to know what we are trying to do!
Clement also needs to make a decision on who will be his Captain and Vice Captain. Whilst a lot of fans are calling for Tavernier and Goldson to be ditched it’s really not just that simple. Goldson is one of our best defenders and Tavernier’ attacking output is better than most of our forwards. If Clement rocks up and tells them they are having the role taken off them this could have a knock on impact on their performances and right now we would struggle to replace both of them. It would also lead a wider question of just who should take on the roles. Many fans are calling for Butland to be captain and whilst that’s possible I’m not overly fond of a keeper being captain. It would also still leave us looking for a vice-captain. I suspect, despite the hope of some fans, that Tavernier and Goldson will probably carry on until the summer at least when we will have a proper chance to replace them.
Youth is another big issue and here, Clement may actually be exactly what we need. Clement has a past of giving youth the chance and right now we have Bailey Rice and Ross McCausland around the first team. McCausland may in fact be the biggest beneficiary of Clement coming in with the squad lacking in wingers. It gives him an opportunity to go and claim the right wing role for himself, especially when you consider Scott Wright is his only real competition there. If he has a good run between now and X-Mas he may well have cemented himself in the team. Rice is another who should benefit with neither Jack or Lundstram convincing domestically as our number six.
Between now and the winter window Clement will have no choice but to work with what he has available at Auchenhowie but with some youth players ready to stake a claim and Danilo and Cantwell on the way back he will have more to work with than Beale did at the end of his tenure. He will have to find a system that suits these players and the immediate ask will simply be, not to fall any further behind in the league race, whilst moving forward in the Europa group and securing the Scottish League Cup. Clement cited the fact Rangers had the four competitions to play for as part of his reason for signing, now it’s time for him to deliver.
I have to admit as the end of Beale’ tenure became more and more obvious I was concerned about the level of coach we could attract. We may be a footballing institution but any manager worth his salt knew the situation he was coming into was far from ideal with a massive disconnect between the team and fans, some players who have been out of form for years signed on big money contracts and an infrastructure around him that is, to be kind, lacking. It says an awful lot about the character of the man that Clement knew all this and still backed himself to turn it around. I’m excited to see what comes next, I just hope Clement is the man to deliver success.
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