• Philippe Clement has been dismissed after just 16 months in charge
• This comes after a poor run of domestic form
• Celtic are set to win their 55th League title following Clement’s sacking

It’s official: Philippe Clement is no longer the Ibrox manager.

Clement’s stint down in Glasgow was destined to fail from the get-go. The same can be said about most managers who come before him, too. We’re looking at you Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale.

The truth is that his sacking had been coming for a long time. Many predicted that he would struggle to see the season out. And (unsurprisingly) that’s what’s happened.

Sure, Clement did get off to a good start. He won 18 of his first 20 league games in charge, landed an impressive League Cup on his first attempt, and had the team playing some pretty decent football. But it was all short-lived.

After initially believing they’d found their saviour, their fans quickly started to lose patience. Inconsistent results, a lack of investment, and poor domestic form ultimately meant that Clement had to go, finishing with just 21 wins from his last 37 games. For an Ibrox manager, it was simply deemed not good enough.

When Clement’s sacking was announced, nobody was shocked. However, it did send social media into a meltdown, with their fans fighting amongst each other and debating whether or not it was the right move to make. Some believe he deserved more time, while others were happy their demands for his sacking had finally been met.

The good news for Clement is that he looks set to receive a hefty payout, something that is going to cause even further damage to the financial books. Remember, they are currently running at a loss of around £15M a year and the rumoured reason why it took so long to sack Clement in the first place was because of the board’s reluctance to inflict further financial pain on the club. So, now that it’s all said and done, the Ibrox club are staring down the barrel of yet more tough seasons to follow with no obvious solution in sight.

Celtic Set to Benefit from Clement Sacking and Win Their 55th League Title

With Philippe Clement booted out, Celtic’s 55th Scottish Premier League title looks all but secured, with almost all of the betting apps on bettingtools.com website giving Celtic 1/100 odds to win the 2024-25 campaign. Celtic currently boast a 16-point lead over the club — and it would take an incredible collapse in form for their rivals to catch them between now and the end of the “Championship Group”.

All of this is music to the ears of Brendan Rodgers and Celtic fans. After all, the team at Ibrox were already struggling as it was this season, so now that Clement has left it leaves them even more vulnerable to falling behind.

It’s worth realising that there are not many world class managers out there who would be willing to take the job at Ibrox, either, especially when you factor in the club’s financial mess, lack of investment power, and the growing gap between them and Celtic. Really, it’s bad news all around for the Light Blues.

This will be further compounded if Rodgers and his Celtic men can secure another domestic treble. Celtic have already won the Scottish League Cup this season and are almost guaranteed to win the league, so all that remains is the Scottish Cup (which they’re currently in the quarter-finals for). This would be Rodgers third domestic treble with Celtic, after previously winning trebles with the club back in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns.

After European heartbreak in Munich, Clement’s sacking is going to add more fuel to Brendan Rodgers’ fire when it comes to his domestic treble hopes. One thing for sure is that everything is falling into place for Celtic to do it – and it will only make Ibrox’s fans more envious.

Former Ibrox Captain Barry Ferguson Put in Charge Until the End of the Season

The Ibrox side are still Celtic’s main domestic rival, so all eyes were on who was going to be the next manager on the other side of Glasgow. For now, it’s going to be former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson, who has officially taken over as interim manager for the remainder of the season. Most fans aren’t too happy about this, particularly as Ferguson’s last outing as a manager was back in 2022 at Alloa Athletic where he massively struggled.

Clearly, this is nothing more of a temporary fix in a season that their board deems as already finished. It hasn’t started well either, with the defeat at home to Motherwell at the weekend putting them a further three points behind their rivals.

While the club tries to hang on until the end of the season, the club will likely be planning a swoop for a major manager in the summer.

They might opt for a Steven Gerrard return, which is something a growing number of fans seem to be keen on. There’s also potential for a shock name like Sean Dyce to take on the task of fixing Ibrox, although whether he’d be the right long-term fix is highly questionable. One thing for sure is that their next managerial hiring could make or break the club, so Celtic fans will be praying they make the wrong move.

Brendan Rodgers Future Remains Up in the Air

When it comes to Celtic’s managerial situation, the general hope is that Brendan Rodgers will put pen to paper on a new deal in the summer. Despite the Irishman confirming “We’ve not really had any conversation around that” when discussing the possibility of a new contract recently, it’s something that would make absolute sense for both parties.

With Celtic thriving domestically, making big improvements in Europe, and the downfall of the Ibrox club worsening each season that goes by, Rodgers would be naive to walk away from the job at this point. Based on current projections, he could easily stick around for a couple more seasons and continue to pile up his trophy collection with Celtic. Not to mention, Rodgers would no doubt love another crack of the whip with Jota, Kuhn, and Maeda as his front 3 next season, although whether Celtic can avoid any transfer swoops for them remains to be seen.

The obvious issue, though, is that Rodgers’ successful second stint with Celtic will not go unnoticed by other European clubs. There’s a very strong chance that a big-name Premier League club will once again come calling in the summer and we know from the past that it doesn’t take much to turn Rodgers’ head. For now, though, it looks like both Celtic and Rodgers will wait until the season wraps up before starting contract talks.

Summary

Philippe Clement has been booted out of Ibrox and Celtic fans are once again revelling in the club’s misery. You wouldn’t want to be a fan on the blue side of Glasgow at the moment, that’s for sure. The club is in financial ruin, interim manager Barry Ferguson looks set to struggle with the mess left behind by Clement, and not many big-name managers will be willing to make the move to Glasgow when the summer arrives. It’s a sight to behold for Celtic fans in a season that looks set to be capped off with yet another treble.

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