Philippe Clement nearly caused a collective heart attack in the Rangers support when he spoke to a leading journalist last week.
The Belgian manager – who has been in the job since last October – appeared to aim a Rangers transfer barb at the club’s board with the summer window stagnating.
It didn’t help that Clement was clear the club would have to sell before they could buy this summer, an ominous warning given the work still to be done at Ibrox.
But the Gers boss has since moved to cool the furore around the situation with an interview on RTV.
Here Clement gave another transfer update explaining that external factors are preventing the club pouncing for their main targets.
In the same vein, the Rangers boss has also been quoted elsewhere rubbishing ‘fake news’ around key players such as James Tavernier and Connor Goldson.
Tavernier & Goldson links ‘fake news’
Speaking amid swirling exit reports around both players, Philippe Clement has assured fans not to believe everything they read online.
At the same time, the Rangers boss has been clear that no-one – except from perhaps Jack Butland – is assured of their place in the Ibrox squad.
The Rangers manager also reckons that overplaying the duo has led to a downturn in form and insists that this won’t be the case next season.
In comments which the Belgian will hope turns the tide of negative fan opinion on the pair, it appears Tav & Goldson are going nowhere ahead of the new campaign.
“There is a lot of speculation in Glasgow and I have read a lot of things that you say are totally not true,” said Clement, as quoted by the Herald.
“Fake news. But it is part of being in Glasgow. You cannot react to every fake news because then you’ll only be busy with that.
“What I see is that they brought a lot to the club the last couple of years. That they did really good games with me. They also did games where it was less, like all the team.
“For me they maybe played too much last season or the last couple of years because if you play 60 games nobody is every time at his top shape. They have done all of that for the club, they worked really hard for that.
“They are not going to play 60 games the season to come now and all the speculation around them is the same speculation that you can have around every player. It is the same for us.
“If there is somebody coming with the right amount of money we will see, we will discuss. But you always need to see and then you need to replace somebody and you need enough money to replace them to make it better, otherwise it is also of no use. It is finding a balance in that way.“
Rangers pair part of Ibrox plans
The futures of Rangers captain James Tavernier and Ibrox vice-captain Connor Goldson have been the subject of much debate this summer.
Given their roles in the playing squad, and the length of time both have been at the club, the scrutiny has certainly been harsher than with any other players in the team.
And not without good reason.
Whilst there’s a feeling plenty of the scorn has been passive-aggressive after yet another season of domestic failure, the two players have actually overseen yet another season of domestic failure.
Their firm status as the leadership duo at Ibrox also almost belies the burning desire for change at the club.
But that doesn’t mean either play still doesn’t have a role to play.
It’s interesting that Clement wants to use these two players less going forward, suggesting an over-reliance on both Tav and Connor has impacted their form.
If Rangers can start to move away from an insistence of using both players every game, perhaps it can win fans back over with regards their role in the team.
But with James Tavernier strongly linked to a move to Saudi Arabia, and the links of Birmingham City linked to Connor Goldson, the exit fire continues to rage.
Clement is clear that for the time being, all the talk around both players is just that – talk.
Until it changes fans have been urged to focus on what they can still bring to the club, and not any hot air.
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