The stories linking Clement to the Belgian job are transparent rubbish.

Imagine you ran a gigantic corporation, and you had a highly paid CEO on a long-term contract who, to put it bluntly, was terrible at the job.

Because of their incompetence, the company is suffering ongoing losses, and those losses have now reached a point where you can’t afford to terminate that person’s contract. Imagine, too, that your boardroom has serious governance gaps. You’ve lost several department heads you can’t replace, and there are others stuck in roles they neither like nor want, simply because there’s no one else to do them. In short, you’re a model of dysfunctionality.

Now, take it a step further and imagine an industry media sector that is broadly sympathetic to your company, favouring you over your rivals. You can’t sack this underperforming CEO, but there is one scenario that could save you: you get the media to run stories suggesting other major companies are interested in that individual.

You spin it that the CEO isn’t bad at the job, just a victim of a toxic corporate culture and poor support from those around them. The goal? To get someone to believe it, swoop in, and hire them away, saving you the trouble of firing them and possibly earning you some much-needed compensation in the process.

You’d be pushing for that in a heartbeat, wouldn’t you?

This perhaps explains the recent stories linking Philippe Clement to the job of managing the Belgian national team. Because, let’s be honest, those stories are ridiculous.

The Belgian national team, with its exceptional pool of players and high ambitions, could hire almost anyone. They would take one look at Clement’s track record here in Scotland and know immediately that hiring him would be a step backward. But it suits the Ibrox club to promote this narrative, and it suits some in the media to amplify it because it’s the only way they’ll get rid of him without having to pay him a hefty severance package they simply can’t afford.

How fortunate it is to have an entire media ecosystem ready to dance to your tune, no matter how absurd that tune might be. When it became clear that Michael Beale was on the verge of being sacked, they tried a similar tactic, attempting to generate interest from clubs in England. They did the same with Giovanni van Bronckhorst, pushing ridiculous rumours about his supposed next destination. Both men, of course, stayed until they were dismissed, as no offers ever materialised.

So as a strategy, I understand it. I understand why the Ibrox club would want to push the idea of Clement as the next Belgian manager, even though Belgium already has a coach in Domenico Tedesco, who, while far from great, is still preferable to Clement.

The problem for the Ibrox club is that they always overestimate their ability to influence perception outside of Scotland. The mainstream Scottish media might work overtime to sell this idea, but there’s nobody elsewhere in Europe who will take it seriously. They can promote it as much as they like, but it won’t influence the Belgian FA, which is where it actually matters.

Reports today suggest the Belgian FA has told media outlets that they won’t entertain approaching Clement while he’s under contract at the Ibrox club because the cost of compensating them would be too high. Allegedly, they would wait until he’s sacked before making any decisions about Tedesco. All of this, however, sounds like fantasy because the idea that they’d sit and wait for a sacked coach from Scotland to become available is laughable.

To put it simply: are they waiting for Clement to prove he’s a failure before hiring him? Think about that for a second, and you’ll see the holes in this theory.

This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to resolve a sticky situation. Nobody is coming to save the Ibrox club here. Nobody will make a seven-figure offer to take Clement off their hands. They’re stuck with him, and he’s stuck with them. And whoever spoke to the Belgian media suggesting the FA won’t move for Clement until he’s unemployed is surely trolling them hilariously. It’s their way of saying, “Guys, this is all in your heads. Stop dreaming.”

If Clement were available right now, he wouldn’t even make the Belgian FA’s shortlist. The national team is a serious contender in international football, with the quality to win tournaments. They need someone who can inspire and deliver results.

Clement, with his lacklustre spell at Monaco and his current performance in Scotland, has shown none of the qualities required.

In truth, Clement doesn’t handle pressure well, dislikes scrutiny, and displays traits that would give any employer pause. Any objective observer can see that. The idea that he’s being lined up for the Belgian job is one of the most ludicrous stories of recent weeks, and it’s been a joy to watch the sheer absurdity of it play out.

Outside of Scotland, nobody is paying attention.

The idea of Clement as a managerial candidate for Belgium is just another example of the pro-Ibrox media operating in its own echo chamber. They are desperately trying to push an idea so far-fetched that even their own audience mocks it.