'Extremely Poor' - Pundit aghast at Clement as Rangers linked to 'Disrespectful' signing

Philippe Clement’s reaction to questions about Ryan Kent was a surprise but Rangers should not even contemplate a move to bring the winger back says Derek Ferguson.

The English attacker is a free agent after being released from a nightmare spell at Fenerbahce in October and immediate speculation linking him to an Ibrox return was put to the Gers boss [via Rangers Review, 18 October].

The Belgian, who often refuses to give any sort of comment on transfer rumours, volunteered the information that he knew all about the 27-year-old and had held talks over signing him before he joined Rangers permanently in 2019.

Rangers have endured long absences from wide men Rabbi Matondo and Oscar Cortes already this season, leaving Nedim Bajrami to play on the flanks for the opening months of his Gers career.

Kent has been tipped to come in and train with the squad before potentially rejoining in the January transfer window [PLZ Soccer, 18 January], when he is next eligible to play for a new club.

But Ferguson doesn’t think the Light Blues should go anywhere near a player who seemingly “downed tools” in his final year with the club, prior to his contract expiring two summers ago.

There is thought to be interest in Kent from wildly-different destinations, including Saudi Arabian clubs [Daily Mail, 22 October] and English League One side Leyton Orient [Scottish Sun, 26 October].

Rangers told to steer clear of Fenerbahce reject

Ferguson exclusively told Ibrox News: “First of all, I was surprised with Clement’s reaction, that he knew all about him. He didn’t shut it down.

“But I’m just coming from a personal point of view. I thought [Kent] was extremely poor the last three or four months before he left the club. He downed tools.

“So that tells you everything about a player’s mentality. He was going out and he was playing, I would say, at most 50 or 60 per cent.

“It was clear to see for everybody his application wasn’t there. So I thought, just from my own perspective, it was pretty disrespectful to the Rangers support that that’s the type of performance he was giving.

“So I wouldn’t touch him to be honest. Because when you play with Rangers the one thing is you’ve got to be at it week in, week out. You cannae flick a switch and turn it on and off.

“When you’ve still got three or four months on your contract to run down, and he was just ambling along, didnae want to get into the nitty gritty end of the game.

“So no, for me it would be a no go.”

In other Rangers news, “overwhelming” evidence now points to a well-known manager getting the Ibrox manager’s job.

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