Rangers chairman John Gilligan insists that Philippe Clement is the man to take the Ibrox side into a new era.
The former Belgian international boasts an impressive managerial CV in his native homeland, whilst a short-lived stint at AS Monaco had a number of pitfalls.
One year on from Philippe Clement taking the reins at Rangers, discussions over the future of the incumbent Ibrox manager are once again back on the table in Autumn.
And with some huge clashes on the horizon, John Gilligan’s interim tenure as Rangers chairman is set to be tested by what the Ibrox investor admits himself are ‘famous last words’.
John Gilligan’s ‘famous last words’ on Philippe Clement
John Gilligan comes into a key position at Rangers at a time of stirring upheaval.
This season’s calamitous stint at Hampden Stadium and an aching summer rebuild on a tight budget proved too much for John Bennett, who stepped down as chairman for health reasons.
With Philippe Clement suffering in the media as a result, Rangers have clearly pledged to shift the executive team narrative away from the manager so he can focus on the football.
In a series of public declarations, Gilligan threw his support behind Clement and claims that the Rangers board will be backing the manager, presumably through the stormy winter ahead.
They handed the Belgian a new contract on the eve of the Scottish Premiership season for a reason.
“I was very impressed with the manager,” Gilligan told the press in September. “We had quite a long talk with myself and George Letham.
“Very impressive. The long and short of it is I don’t talk about the football myself, as much as I want to.
“The manager is in charge. We’re here to operate the business, the manager is supported to operate the training academy and football club side of things.
“We’ll never interfere in that.
“One thing I will say to you guys is that the manager has been put forward as the kind of spokesperson for the club, which has put him under undue pressure.
“It’s an area of the business that is not his and hopefully I’ll pick up some of that or someone else will.
“But the manager is very impressive.
“Absolutely (Clement has the backing of the board). Definitely. The famous last words of the chairman. No, absolutely.”
When asked if he believes Clement can deliver success this season, Gilligan responded: “Yes, personally, yes. He inspired a bit of confidence.
“He’s a very intelligent man that knows exactly what he’s trying to do and what he’s trying to do for the club.”
Rangers manager faces double judgement day
As if John Gilligan wasn’t under enough pressure as Rangers try to build a new executive team, the situation with Philippe Clement is shovelling on further scrutiny.
The Rangers manager is under mounting criticism from supporters following the 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
The result leaves Rangers six points behind in the Scottish Premiership with a battle for 2nd place, let alone 1st, very much on the horizon this season.
Frustrated Rangers fans espoused their criticisms of Clement in the wake of the defeat, with some emotional supporters even uttering the immortal words ‘sack the boss’.
That’s a message which gets increasingly harder to ignore the bigger the swell gets behind it.
Whilst Rangers’ issues run deeper than Philippe Clement – the mismanagement and lack of coherent leadership of the last three seasons has been nothing short of disastrous – the Belgian’s approval rating risks plummeting further if the next few weeks don’t go to plan.
Rangers have an opportunity to get back to winning ways against FCSB in the Europa League this week before the club hosts St Mirren at Ibrox.
But after that a midweek trip to Pittodrie is looming large with Rangers’ away record this season as bad as anyone’s in the division.
Conversely, a hungry, reinvigorated Aberdeen side will smell blood with Jimmy Thelin’s charges potentially hoping to strike a fatal blow on Clement on the 30th of the month.
If that doesn’t do it, a failure to overcome Motherwell in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden a few days later on the 3rd of November surely will.
The next few weeks are set to test whether John Gilligan’s ‘famous last words’ will be his last on Philippe Clement and his inexperienced Rangers team.
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