Philippe Clement is in it for the long haul as he insisted that he would embrace the challenge of rebuilding Rangers.
With unrest building at the club on the back of a summer in which rebuilding works have forced Rangers to play their games at Hampden and on a week in which they have fallen at the first Champions League hurdle, Clement reiterated that he has no intention of walking away from what he sees as a long-term project at Ibrox.
Clement signed a new four-year with Rangers on the eve of the season kicking off with all aligned to a strategy that does not promise immediate returns. The reality of that may be a different proposition. Supporters are understood to be planning protests before tomorrow’s league game game at St Johnstone but Clement has maintained there is no quick fix but that he believes he is the man to lead Rangers to success.
“It’s a massive job,” he said. “And I knew it. And it was for me so easy to not do it. But maybe that’s my… I don’t know if it’s a word in English. My masochist side. No, no. I love this club, really. And I only had one time that feeling with the club. And it was in Brugges where I was 16 years because it was my second family. I feel after seven months like really part of this club. I could not leave this project now. That was impossible.
“Although there were chances for that. No. But I know we need time to build things. And I cannot say how fast things will go. But I can say that everybody is working really hard. And I’m really confident of the future of this club. Because now decisions are made to keep this club healthy, first. Secondly, to think short term, yes, where possible. But thinking also about long term. And this is what this club needed. Do I love to be in a club where my heart is and they can spend cash all over? And I can get experienced players and to have a squad where every position is double or triple?
“Yeah, of course, I would love that. But I knew before it would not be the case. But I don’t run away of it. No, I see it as maybe the biggest challenge there is. And I love a challenge. And I’m very, very confident in the way that everybody is working here together now. And communicating together that we will reach our goals. Will it be the next month or in three months or in six months?
“That’s more difficult to predict. But this club is on the good way and on the healthy way. And this is what this club needed. Because otherwise you go to the problems of the past. And that’s not what anybody who loves this club wants.”
Of immediate note is the fact that he cannot add to his squad until he offloads players who are no longer part of the plans. Rodman Yilmaz will miss the next four to six weeks of the season with a thigh issue with the Rangers manager expected to shuffle his pack in order to cope with the loss. He spoke of not being able to ‘put a gun’ to the heads of players as he stressed the difficulties of selling before buying with lowering the wage level of the club an imperative.
“I think these things happened much more than 10, 20 years ago [fan protests]. There’s a shift in that all over Europe in that way. I think the first thing that fans don’t want is to come in the same situation as 12 years ago. They don’t want that. So they need to understand that the club tries to do all the good things. And stay healthy. And get results. So if you have six players, end of contract, and maybe you need to let go somebody else also for free to cut down the wages.
“It costs time to rebuild that. I know a big part of the fans understand that. Maybe some not. Can be. So we need to focus on showing them that we want to give everything, every day for this club. The players need to show that on the pitch and get results. And there’s only one thing important for fans, it’s winning games. I know. So we need to focus on showing them that we want to give everything, every day for this club. The players need to show that on the pitch and get results. And there’s only one thing important for fans, it’s winning games. I know.”
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