'Group of Losers' - Michael Stewart responds as question of Derek McInnes to Rangers raised

Derek McInnes will be faced with the exact same issues that Philippe Clement had to contend with if he replaced the embattled Rangers boss, says Michael Stewart.

The pundit told Darrell Currie on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club on 21 October that the Belgian has had an “incredibly difficult” job to do at Ibrox, overhauling a squad at the same time as cutting costs, and he’s been left without experienced leaders.

The Light Blues lost 1-0 to McInnes’ Kilmarnock on 20 October to heap pressure back on the Ibrox boss, and his opposite number has already started being tipped to replace him, but Stewart doesn’t think it’s that simple.

Currie asked (21m 40s): Micheal, do you think somebody like Derek McInnes would get more out of this current Rangers squad? Because the next manager’s going to have to work with this group of players, there can’t be massive change again, even if they did replace the manager.”

Stewart cut in: “What you’re hypothesising is exactly what Philippe Clement had to do last season. He came in and tried to get the best out of what Michael Beale had put together, and Michael Beale spent a lot of money.

“I’m totally with Alan [Hutton] in regards to back end of last season I don’t think anybody could have disputed that Philippe Clement had done an incredible job, the team fell apart, and then there’s a mentality amongst the supporters of, ‘This is a group of losers, we need to break them up’.

“The problem is you move on some of these experienced guys, which in an ideal world probably wasn’t the wrong thing to do, but they’ve not been replaced. You’re trying to recruit and replace leaders at a time where you’re cost cutting as well. It’s an incredibly difficult job to do.”

Kilmarnock boss tipped to replace embattled Rangers boss

If there is a realistic prospect of Rangers changing their manager for a fourth season in a row it will only happen if it is affordable and the next person in can work with the current squad.

Clement was given an extra year on his contract before the start of the season, leading to an expectation that sacking him will cost the club millions [David Edgar, 21 October].

But it has since been suggested that agents believe that extension came with a clause that would have reduced the compensation greatly, making a move feasible from a financial perspective [PLZ Soccer, 21 October].

However, if McInnes, or anyone else who might be brought in, looked at the current squad and felt it needed overhauling it would put the Gers right back to square one.

Three summers ago Giovanni van Bronckhorst spent on Rabbi Matondo, Ridvan Yilmaz, Ben Davies and Antonio Colak.

Then two summers ago saw Beale splash out on the likes of Cyriel Dessers, Danilo, Sam Lammers, and Jose Cifuentes.

Some free transfers have proven better value, but of those eight players only Dessers is both still at the club and featuring regularly, and the Nigerian is often a lightning rod for criticism.

If the same process happened again it might not be long before Robin Propper, Nedim Bajrami, Mohamed Diomande and Oscar Cortes are also yesterday’s men.

So, be it McInnes or not, any replacement is going to need to have a plan to get results with the current playing staff or a change may not be feasible.

In other Rangers news, a first-team international is not expected to last past the end of the season despite a significant breakthrough at Ibrox.

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