‘Strange’ and ‘bizarre’: Pundit perplexed by Clement admissions as Rangers board convenes for crunch negotiations.

Derek Ferguson believes Philippe Clement’s departure as Rangers manager is a serious possibility, despite the “strange” revelation that he hasn’t spoken to the club’s board

Following the catastrophic 2-1 defeat at Pittodrie on October 30, which left the Light Blues nine points behind Aberdeen and Celtic, the Ibrox manager stated that there had been no discussions about his future with the Gers hierarchy [Daily Record, 1 November].

Ferguson is perplexed by this circumstance, given that the Belgian is clearly underperforming, and believes that in any field of work, people in authority should express the need for improvement.

Clement has already lost three games in the Scottish Premiership this season and failed to qualify for the Champions League group stage, but his assessments of his team’s development have compounded fan displeasure.

The 50-year-old was strongly lambasted in the aftermath of Celtic’s 3-0 hammering on 1 September, after hyping about Rangers’ 6-0 success over Ross County a week earlier, and Ferguson admits his “bizarre” remark that the Dons defeat was one of their best displays is not what supporters want to hear.

And, despite concerns about the club’s ability to afford another managerial change, the ex-Ibrox midfielder believes it is doable.

Rangers’ defeat at Aberdeen established a nine-point gap to Celtic and Dons.
He exclusively told Ibrox News: “Of course [it is realistic that he will go].” It cannot continue. He has to answer to someone; there are board members present.

“And I believe he stated in the media that he had not spoken with them following the Aberdeen game.

Two or three days after an absolutely awful outcome, he came out and said it was one of his best performances, which is unusual to say when you lose to one of your biggest rivals; I don’t think people want to hear that.

“But it was weird that he hadn’t spoken to anyone, because if you’re not performing in your position, people will sit down with you. In our case, we don’t have a chairman, we don’t have a CEO, and there are board members who should be speaking with him.

“Just to let him know that it’s clearly not good enough and you need to up the stakes, it needs to be better.”