'Philippe Clement is c***' Simon Jordan crashes into Rangers manager claim and asks who is going to sack him?
Unbowed SImon Jordan has refused to throw in the towel on Philippe Clement but confesses others will now view the beleaguered Belgian as "c***" and his time is up at Rangers.
The outspoken former Crystal Palace supremo was won over by Clement last season and believes other factors are at play as the Ibrox side sit nine points behind Aberdeen and Celtic. Wednesday's chastening 2-1 defeat at Pittodrie led to furious fans at the game and at home to call for change.
But Jordan says not so fast. He reckons Clement is worth hearing out amid his mounting list of reasons why Rangers are floundering. Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: "There is only a select group of managers, who operate at a high level, who would want to manage Rangers. I don't think it's great that Dave King said the things he said. I don't think it's inclusive, but I understand why he said it.
READ MORE:Celtic TV laugh loudly at Rangers as they go in two-footed with Clement and Co openly mocked
"I don't think James Bisgrove was a wonderful CEO who held Rangers together. Let's have it right, I think Philippe Clement can either manage this group of players, or has the resources to do it, or he can't. The rest can be fixed in isolation. Those bloody players, not performing on a football field for their manager, it has nothing to do with who is sitting in that boardroom. The fact that the squad might not be good enough, that might have something to do with it.
"The fact Rangers don't have enough money to be able to compete with Celtic, that might be reflected. And now Aberdeen, making a point, currently, the same Aberdeen who put Neil Warnock in last season to stay in the Premiership. They have caught a wave with this Swedish manager who is doing very well. Rangers will be catching their poison, the hysteria will kick in, that Clement is now c*** and has to go."
And straight-shooting Jordan continued his quest to search every nook and cranny of Ibrox to find answers over how Clement's rousing start went south. He added "Ultimately, for the majority of the first season, we were quite enamoured with the fella, the way he communicated, the authority he exuded and the competitive nature of the team he was producing.
"At the back end of last season, you start to see a deterioration, he kind of allowed, with no disrespect to Celtic's achievements, he handed the keys back to the opportunity they created for themselves to Celtic. Brendan took it gladly and Celtic regained their poise. This season, it just seems to have started off where the last season ended. It's not particularly inspiring. The idea that the lack of leadership at the top, if there is no leadership, no chairman, no CEO, then who is going to bloody fire him? If he is indeed to be fired.
"Dave King has come into the mix and created a bit of noise about what he thinks. Then you have got this recent run of results. Aberdeen, you cannot discount their form, you cannot discount they are going to give anybody a game. Let's see how Celtic do when they go to Pittodrie and face Aberdeen in this kind of form. They have won every game they have played bar one."
When reminded Rangers are now way off their biggest rivals after losing to Aberdeen, Jordan doubled down. He added: "I know they do (trail in the league) but, in isolation, this game which is creating the headline and reaction from Kris Boyd is an unfair analysis. Go back behind that and see what is happening, what was their transfer policy in the summer? What funds does he have available?
"There has to be a raft of reasons, rather than emotive outbursts from pundits about what is happening at Rangers. If, it is indeed, that Clement has gone from hero to zero, with nothing in between, with no reason behind it, he isn't good enough, he isn't the person people thought he was
"On one hand, you have got people saying 'get your bloody nose back in the boardroom and away from the football operations, we don't want you here, leave the football people to run it'. On the other hand, it's 'we don't have a CEO, we don't have a chairman', and that's the reason why it is rudderless.
"Philippe Clement's side are not not functioning on the field because there is no chairman, or CEO, it might be nice to impart wisdom, but most CEOs are bag carriers, most CEOs, in football, wouldn't get jobs in commercial business around the world. I don't see them as leaders. Most chairman are detached from the business anyway."