Rangers board back Philippe Clement but say results must improve

Published 11th Jan 2025

Chief executive Patrick Stewart confirmed the Rangers board is backing Philippe Clement - but admits results have to improve.

Boss Clement claimed the Ibrox hierarchy was "200 per cent" behind him after the 1-1 draw with Dundee on Thursday night saw the Light Blues end up 15 points behind William Hill Premiership leaders Celtic - who can go another three points clear on Saturday if they beat Ross County away.

That result incurred the wrath of the travelling supporters, with the Rangers Supporters Association subsequently calling for his removal.

Stewart, who joined the club officially on December 16, insisted the decision to stick with their manager was not "financially driven" at a club who lost reported a £17.2million loss for the 2023-24 season.

He also spoke about an outsourced review of the whole football department which will take between six to 12 weeks as he discussed the Belgian boss.

He said: "I need to make some tough decisions, it comes with the role, but I am committed to making the right ones for Rangers, not just the popular ones.

"So cutting to the chase, we are backing Philippe at this time as a board.

"It's about taking a deeper look at the issues, addressing those problems, and staying focused on building a stronger future for the club.

"Changing a manager isn't a silver-bullet solution.

"What I do need to do, and what the board are supporting me with, is uncovering the underlying issues and addressing those.

"Because there's been several years where we've been underperforming, and there's something deeper rooted here, and I agree with that.

"So I think that's what we need to do, we need to look beneath the surface. Managers and coaching staff will continue to come and go in the future, that's understood. Again, that is football.

"But what I'm looking to do, again, this is a team effort, is build a solid foundation and a real long-term football plan for the club.

"If we rush and react every time there's some poor results, we're in danger of just being back in the same place in a year's time or 18 months' time or however long.

"But I want to be clear, look, I'm not saying everything is fine, and I think the fans are frustrated, I get that.

"And particularly if I look at the away results, you know, the record is there, it's been discussed, it's not good, and it's not what's expected for Rangers.

"So we are working with Philippe to address consistency issues, and I'm also not going to speculate on what happens if results don't improve.

"I spent a lot of time with Philippe, a lot of time at Auchenhowie, I was with Philippe last night, and we discussed the need, the imperative for results to improve.

"If results don't improve, obviously I can't give Philippe any cast-iron guarantees. He and I have both been around football long enough to know that isn't the case.

'Equally, I'm not going to get into how many games does Philippe have to save his job, that's not what we're about.

"We're about helping Philippe to identify why is there the inconsistency and let's address that. And again, to be clear, sticking with Philippe isn't about trying to avoid a tough decision.

"In fact, I think if anything, changing a manager would be the easy decision, because a lot of supporters are calling for that. I'm aware of that, I've seen the statements.

"But I think that would be easy and I'm looking at this from a long-term perspective and thinking what's in the best interests of the club. So, I'm putting the club first, not my own interests and whether this decision is going to be viewed as positive or negative."

Explaining his "root and branch" review, the former interim CEO at Manchester United said: "Everything is in scope and it starts on Monday.

"Because I think if we're honest with ourselves as a club, and honest to the supporters, if we look at everything in its entirety, the football club has not been where it wants to be for several years now.

"So, we're going to review everything that we're doing at (Rangers training complex) Auchenhowie and we're going to look at it from a number of different angles.

"So, we want to ensure that we've got structures in place to succeed. Every decision that we make needs to be focused on one goal, which is bringing success to Rangers and making our supporters proud."

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