GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 17: Rangers Manager Phillipe Clement during a Premier Sports Cup last sixteen match between Rangers and St Johnstone at Hampden Park, on August 17, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
This morning, Robbie Copeland of The Daily Record published a piece arguing why Philip Clement won’t be sacked by the Ibrox club. It’s an interesting read, especially considering rumours that some members of the media and the club’s hierarchy recently had a cosy sit-down aimed at calming calls for the manager’s head.
Not everyone seemed to get the memo.
Keith Jackson, for one, suggested on Monday that Clement’s sacking is not just possible but inevitable, even going so far as to promote Derek McInnes as a replacement. Jackson’s glowing piece on McInnes was almost laughable, practically deifying the Kilmarnock manager.
Copeland, on the other hand, offers a different view.
He claims that Ibrox can’t keep repeating the cycle of hiring and firing managers every November just because they’ve fallen behind Celtic. There’s some sense in that argument, as the club needs to eventually back someone and have them see through their plan.
But when your main rationale is that the club simply can’t afford the costs of another sacking spree, the argument feels weak.
Of course, the financials of sacking Clement are daunting.
Not only would they need to compensate Clement, but also his coaching staff—and then pay more for a replacement like McInnes, who’d likely bring his own team. All of that would cost in the high seven figures, not to mention the funds needed to rebuild the squad, which also isn’t cheap.
I agree with Copeland to an extent; it’s a lot for Ibrox to commit to financially.
But let’s not kid ourselves—there’s little faith in Clement across the board.
The fans have made up their minds, most of the media is convinced he’s not the answer, and I’d be shocked if there’s no doubt among the Ibrox directors.
The club seems divided, and Jackson’s latest McInnes story reveals that certain people on the board—acting chairman John Gilligan, notably—have a soft spot for him.
It was clear Clement received no reassuring words after the Aberdeen defeat, despite his bizarre insistence that he took it as a positive. When you’re on the ropes, you expect some backing, and he didn’t get it. Perhaps he was too arrogant to ask, or perhaps he doesn’t care.
Clement’s arrogance will likely be his downfall, as I wrote earlier today.
He’s an egotist, sensitive to criticism, and his focus seems entirely on his supposed long-term vision.
Many managers are like that; they think the directors are far too reactive to fan sentiment. Managers can keep their cool, staying true to a plan while directors panic and give in to pressure.
But if I were in Clement’s shoes, I’d at least want to know the board isn’t plotting behind my back.
Then there’s the McInnes story.
Clearly, someone at Ibrox wanted it to be known that McInnes didn’t “snub” the club years ago; he simply didn’t trust Dave King. It’s classic media manipulation, and Jackson is the perfect mouthpiece for that kind of narrative. Whether it’s to get back at King or grease the wheels for McInnes to eventually take the role, someone wanted this angle out in public.
But if they genuinely are keeping Clement, planning to give him a January budget and maybe even another summer, well, that’s fantastic news for Celtic.
This man’s tactics are a disaster; his team-building has been laughable, and their style of play is atrocious. While I can’t see Ibrox sticking with him if things worsen, the word is that they’re committed for now. This ‘backing’ will only brew more chaos within the club, which will spill over at what’s sure to be a fiery AGM.
So, Celtic fans, sit back and enjoy the show.
Whether they keep him or sack him, Ibrox looks set for bedlam.
This club hasn’t seen stability since it rose from the ashes of Rangers, and it doesn’t look like it’s coming anytime soon.
Seen bez from the happy Mondays recently on TV and his eyes have an uncanny resemblance to Clements, as much as I admire Bez as he’s had his problems, Clements on the other hand deserves everything coming his way , he really is a loose fit .
They will only stabilise,IF, they get in front of this Supremacist, same Club nonsense.
It’s the Fan’s sense of continuity and entitlement that’s driving the pressures on the Board.
All the Boards have been ‘ Hostages to Fortune’ and fan ‘Goodwill’.
The incessant focus by the fans on ‘catching Sellik’ has forced the Board to insane levels of debt.
The Boards since 2012 have, in the main, given in to the fans as every successive Manager failed.
This submission to the will of the fans was, in the early years merely, a diversion to keep them onside while the Chalatans, Spivs and Fraudsters bled the Club dry and tied up revenue streams in self serving Onerous Contracts. In the post King, era Boards were more stable (sic) but still handcuffed by the Fans demands for spending more money, ‘Other People’s Money’ to beat Celtic.
The tribute Act never stood a chance from day one. As long as the Club wore the ‘mantle’ of the liquidated Rangers then the fans expected the Boards to act like Rangers. They didn’t care where the money came from for all the multi million pound signings, in the Advocat and Smith eras.They simply expected it to happen. The followers of theTribute Act simply followed suit.
Celtic’s inbuilt financial advantage ( 10,000 more Season Tickets per annum), over NewCo is too great for The Tribute Act to catch up, never mind surpass. Throw in the new EUFA sustainability rules and Sevco’s options are extremely limited. I firmly believe that an Administration Event is the only ‘ out ball’ the Club has. The fans most definitely do not have the patience for the long term changes necessary to rescue the Club, in Finances and on the park. They will walk away again. Ironically hastening the inevitable reckoning.
Great post SFATHENADIROFCHIFTINESS !
I think they’ll probably go for administration if they fall much further behind in The League…
Them (Sevco FC) won’t give a Continental Fuck nor an apology to those they’ve screwed like ‘Rangers’ (died c.2012) did !
Civil war at The Daily (Scummy) Record – BEAUTIFUL (Copeland dream name that for a Scummy worker – And That guy Jackson that was The Fat Fitness Instructors – Jim Traynor’s shitepan skidmark cleaner) the last time I read it back in the previous century !
Civil war at Sevco – Equally BEAUTIFUL…
Sevco and The Scummy (Record) well deserve each other eternally…
A marriage made in UTTER HELL !!!
I don’t think it is civil war at the Record. They are just being smart and presenting both options – stick or twist. Sevco have already come out and stated that the seasonal managerial change was not sustainable. That also seems to be the logic behind offering Clement a new contract; what he had been sold at the outset was no longer the case. there was a reduced budget for players and, therefore, new terms and conditions. That was the starting point. I would think that if they ditch that option, they will reduce further and go for an SPL manager who will have more experience in working with smaller budgets and getting the best out of the best of Scottish based talent. In that context McInnes is a sensible option.
All things considered a ‘Save Our Phil’ petition is badly needed. So let’s all get behind the Belgian Waffler, he needs more time to sicken an already distraught support. The Erskine Bridge is beckoning them and their adopted Pied Piper has to lead them there.