Barry Ferguson believes Philippe Clement is the man Rangers have been crying out for and has been left impressed by his demeanour in front of the media.
- The ex-Ibrox hero, speaking in his Daily Record column (28 October) believes the Belgian has brought “a bit of gravitas and class” behind the scenes at the club and is confident he knows the size of the task at hand to bring Rangers back to glory again
Clement’s side saw out a goalless draw with the Czech side to continue their unbeaten start under the former Moncao manager, thanks in part to an impressive performance between the posts from former England international Jack Butland.
Ferguson also believes that Clement will not be getting carried away despite his unbeaten start at Ibrox but is impressed by the impact he’s had already on the players.
He wrote: “Philippe Clement is just days in the door at Ibrox but I’m convinced he’s the straight man Rangers have been crying out for.
“He’s brought a bit of gravitas and class to the job and to use an old expression – I like the cut of his jib. Rewind to last weekend when he was asked if he was impressed with the performance against Hibs and the reporter claimed it could have been the best of the season so far.
“His reply was very straight, he said “impressed” was a big word and would prefer to use the word, “happy”.
“It was great to hear a sober response from him. He knows the size of the task he has taken on and is well aware of what needs to be done both domestically and in Europe in the months ahead. Two games down and two decent performances but he’s playing it all low-key. There’s no danger of him getting carried away.
“Everyone in the team looks as though they know their roles and know what they are doing when they go out into the pitch. It’s only been a short period of time that Clement has been on the training pitch with the players, but they look as though they have been coached really well since the new manager has come in.”
Pulling no punches
Ferguson is absolutely right, Clement is certainly taking the approach of a manager who means business and is pulling no punches in the Ibrox dressing room already.
The way the Belgian has been conducting himself in press conferences and post-match interviews certainly shows a coach with plenty of experience and know-how but also is wary of the tough job at hand.
The Gers have started really well under his management but indeed, it’s not enough to get carried away and while the Light Blues were flat at times in Prague on Thursday (26 October), they did remarkably well to come away with their second consecutive clean sheet.
While two games may be too small to make a definitive judgement on Clement’s plans at Ibrox, both tactically and in the personnel, it certainly seems as if he is working hard on making these Rangers solid and structured defensively first before anything else.
Certainly, the size of the task at Ibrox is huge, especially to make their strong challengers to Celtic again but with the kind of hard-nosed approach Clement is taking in front of the media and towards his players, everyone will be desperate to get down to business to impress the new boss.