The REAL Rangers dressing room view on Clement as under fire boss earns unwavering verdict
Mohamed Diomande insists Philippe Clement has the trust of the entire Rangers squad despite fans stepping up calls for his head.
The Ibrox boss is in the line of fire for the Ibrox faithful with two supporters groups demanding his sacking last week just hours before the Belgian was handed a vote of confidence by new CEO Patrick Stewart. Sunday’s 3-1 win over St Johnstone was played out in front of a silent protest from the smaller than usual crowd before the Union Bears staged a 55th minute walk out.
That ultras group - who were jeered during their exit by punters left inside the stadium - followed up their demo with a Sunday evening statement warning they won’t stop until there’s “real change for our club”. It comes amid a league campaign that’s seen Rangers fall 15 points behind Celtic due to disastrous away form. Clement has also faced criticism over his team’s lack of style.
But Diomande insists the new chief executive is right to back the manager. And the midfielder says it’s down to the players to turn things round as it’s only they who can deliver what the beleaguered boss wants. Asked about Stewart’s support for the boss, Diomande said: "It's good. We are all trying to do our best and we are all learning from each other.
“We listen to him and we try to improve together as a team. He is all of us. He brought me in, and I trust him, and I'm sure other players also do. They trust his tactics and what he wants to bring to the club and we just need to deliver what he shows us in training.
“You need to deliver it on the pitch for him also to get the maximum points we all want and to achieve our goals. He brought me in and I try to learn from him each day. Yeah, I'm just trying to be the best I can be, and to learn from him or the assistants and also my teammates."
Diomande says it’s down to the players on the pitch to get the fans back onside. Next up tomorrow night is a visit of Aberdeen who dished out a damaging 2-1 defeat to Clement’s side at Pittodrie less than three months ago.
The Dons streaked nine points clear of Rangers in second place after that result.
But a remarkable downturn in fortunes in the north east has seen that overturned into a nine point lead for Rangers over Jimmy Thelin’s team. Despite their troubles on the road which has seen Clement’s side win just three of 11 league games, they are unbeaten in Govan with 10 wins and a draw from 11 home matches.
And Diomande knows winning is all they can do to bring harmony back to the club. The midfielder, who signed from Nordsjaelland initially on loan a year ago, said: “We just want to win games. Winning games is going to make the fans happy because that's what the club is about.
"Wednesday’s game is important. We have a good run at Ibrox and we want to win again on Wednesday."
