David Edgar: Clement sack to cost Rangers millions in pay off

Philippe Clement would be due millions as a pay off from Rangers if he is sacked, according to David Edgar.

The Heart & Hand Podcast host replied to questions via X on 21 October with the Gers boss facing renewed pressure in the wake of the 1-0 loss at Kilmarnock the previous day.

The defeat wasted an opportunity to close the gap on top two Celtic and Aberdeen, but a managerial change would be expensive after the club extended Clement’s deal in the summer.

Edgar dismissed the possibility that the Belgian would resign as “literally no manager quits these days they wait for a pay off.”

Asked how much that would cost he replied: “It would certainly be a few mil aye.”

Rangers boss under big pressure after Kilmarnock defeat

The cost of replacing Clement likely secures his place in charge at Ibrox for the foreseeable future, rightly or wrongly.

He didn’t feel the benefit of the sort of funds that Michael Beale spent two summers ago but cash was ultimately still made available in the previous window, and much of that would also be added to the sunk costs if a new manager decided he didn’t like those signings and wanted his own once again.

The recruitment, or lack thereof, at Ibrox has been a major part of the gradual decline in recent seasons as the money that has been spent has too often gone on the wrong players.

And the disjointed strategy that is inevitable with such turnover in the dugout and at key positions within the hierarchy has left the club endlessly changing direction and trying to correct previous mistakes.

The Rangers decision-makers noticed the problems this was causing made the decision that they will stick with Clement despite poor results this term [The Herald, 27 July].

Unexpectedly extending his contract by a year shortly before the opener at Hearts likely locked them into that choice, and certainly would have made getting rid of him that much more expensive.

That extra year on his deal felt like as much a tacit acceptance of the difficult position he had been put in during the transfer market as anything, and there is logic to giving one man time to build out of a widespread mess at the club.

But after a terrible result in the first Old Firm derby, failure to reach the Champions League group stage, and such a disappointing inability to take advantage of an opportunity offered up by Celtic and Aberdeen they might be wondering if they made the right choice, when the extension has been tipped not to save him if another title goes to Parkhead [Hugh Keevins, 2 August].

And Michael Stewart has now suggested (21 October) the next three games, culminating in a trip to Pittodrie to face the high-flying Dons on 30 October, could now prove “decisive” for Clement’s reign at Ibrox.

In other Rangers news, Lawrence Shankland looks set to head to Ibrox after a new admission at Hearts.

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