Go now Philippe Clement and Rangers might just be able to hold on to a shred of credibility – Keith Jackson
Philippe Clement may have just about managed to keep his head above water up until now but on Sunday this beleaguered Belgian suffered a defeat so catastrophic and so humiliating that it’s impossible to see how he can survive with any kind of credibility.
He’s had more close shaves than Harry Houdini over the course of these last 12 months but to crash out of the Scottish Cup at home to Queen’s Park? No that has to be regarded as a line in the sand moment even for a Rangers board which has prevaricated its way through this extended period of underachieving, without ever looking like grasping the bull by the horns.
Well, now Clement has backed them into a corner with one final clumsy calamity, simply adopting the foetal position and opting to do nothing at all no longer seems like a viable position. On the contrary, unless Patrick Stewart emerges from the smouldering wreckage of another car crash of a campaign then his own worthiness as the man at the head of the command centre will be the subject of serious debate.
READ MORE: Philippe Clement sinks Rangers so low they're on the seabed as Hotline rages against Ibrox imposters
Stewart was smart enough to stay well clear of this minefield when he scheduled his first day in the office for the day after the Premier Sports Cup Final. It was widely anticipated around that time that his first act as the club’s incoming CEO would be to usher Clement aside for a quiet word before sending him on his way.
But Clement dodged that bullet by holding Ange Postecoglou and Spurs to a Europa League draw at Ibrox just days before taking Celtic all the way to a penalty shoot-out on cup final day at Hampden. Somehow, against all the odds, Clement had kept his head above water.
But now he has sunk like a stone and this latest toe curling capitulation really does leave Stewart with very little choice but to call time on a manager who can no longer lay claim to be in charge of either his own destiny or that of his team. Along the way, of course, Clement has stumbled from one solution to the next.
Having told Ianis Hagi that he would never be talented enough to hold down a regular place in his team, the Romanian hung around for long enough to become a mainstay in Clement’s final third. But the manager reverted to type yesterday when he hooked Hagi off the pitch midway through the second half, at a point in time when Rangers were desperately seeking a breakthrough goal.
That he opted to replace him with a second choice in left back in Ridvan Yilmaz was a sign that Clement was no longer capable of executing clear thinking, so caught up was he in the moment and panicked by the prospect of what was coming.
It was muddled management and he’s been guilty of this kind of things once too often as far as the club’s supporters are now concerned. The jeers and fury which greeted the final whistle spoke volumes in terms of where they are at right now. It’s somewhere beyond the end of their tether and now they will expect Stewart to do something about it.
And they would be well within their rights. Too often now they have been let down by Clement who has only been clinging onto his job courtesy of some out of character results and performances on the European stage.
He might even argue that he has done enough over the course of that campaign to deserve the chance to see it out in the latter stages, with his team already qualified directly into the last 16. But is there really a Rangers fan out there who would trust in his judgement now that the Europa League is the only competition left to play for?
And ;et’s be honest about this, what realistic chance is there for Rangers to go all the way in that one anyway? This same Rangers side which can’t even take care of business at home to their old neighbours from the second tier of the Scottish game.
No, they’ve had quite enough of waiting patiently in the hope that Clement might have a clear and cunning plan for progressing their team and taking it to the next level. Yesterday they got another glimpse of the Belgian Baldrick and all the evidence required that the next level is likely to mean more suffering and embarrassments to come.
Not only did Clement lose the lot when he swapped Hagi with Yilmaz, he had already raised eyebrows with his decision making during the half time interval when he told youngster Bailey Rice to put his tracksuit back on.
Rice had strolled through the opening 45 minutes, showing all the class and composure which mark him out as a kid with a considerable future ahead. But. having chosen to blood him into the starting line up, Clement showed the first sign of being spooked in the moment by replacing him with Nicolas Raskin for the start of the second half.
Yes, Raskin’s energy and tempo was probably required. But by hauling off Rice Clement demonstrated that he was becoming unnerved and rattled by the visitors. Effectively, he showed Callum Davidson his hand. Cyriuel Dessres was also sent for and he delivered little more than these fans have become accustomed to expect.
That it ended with skipper James Tavernier fluffing his lines from the penalty spot just summed up the state that this Rangers side are now in. Under Clement they have made a habit of blowing it just when they cannot afford to take one more backward step.
There is now nothing at all for them to salvage from this current domestic campaign other than a change of manager, a shift in direction and and yet more promises of jam tomorrow.
