'He will just...' - Clement backed to win over Rangers fans by his former number two

Philippe Clement’s former assistant Johan van Rumst believes that the Belgian will be able to turn things around at Rangers.

The Gers have made a disappointing start to the season and lost the first Old Firm derby of the season to Celtic 3-0 on Sunday (1 September).

That limp performance yielded an angry reaction from supporters when the players returned to Ibrox and saw the pressure crank up on Clement, who only signed a new deal at the start of August.

But Van Rumst, speaking to the Daily Record (6 September), said that he thinks Clement will turn things around.

“I saw there were not so many people who were there when the bus arrived back at Ibrox. But of course a result like that hurts. It hurts, because I know he is working day and night on getting this team back on track. Philippe isn’t just a coach who is in this for the money,” he said.

“He had the chance to go to Saudi Arabia before joining Rangers where he could have made maybe five times the money he has now. But that’s typical for him because he likes to work in a team where we can rebuild it and put his ideas in. Of course, if you come back after a game and the fans are angry, that hurts you.

“There will be critics. That’s normal, that’s the life of a manager, but he just wants to help the team to get out of this situation.

“He’s working very hard for that, I know that. If the fans are unhappy, then Philippe is smart enough to say, ‘OK, that’s normal, that’s the emotional reaction’. He will just focus on getting them back on side, like he did last year when they all loved him.”

Philippe Clement needs to be given time at Rangers to turn things around

Clement took over from Michael Beale following a poor Rangers stint after his initial time there as a number two to Steven Gerrard.

There was plenty of work done during the transfer window but the feeling among the fanbase was that it was, overall, quite an underwhelming rebuild and the squad still needs plenty of work.

Some players on high wages were managed to be moved on such as John Lundtsram and more recently, Todd Cantwell.

However, although money has been saved in wages, the Gers’ squad still feels like it needs vast improvements across the board to challenge the Bhoys for the title.

The desperately disappointing performance in the derby showed as much and that result already left Rangers facing an uphill battle in the title race.

The Gers currently find themselves fourth and have plenty of room for improvement as the season goes on.

Although Gers’ fans might start to become a bit restless in terms of Clement getting consistent results, once time has been allowed for him to fully bed in his new arrivals, it feels likely that there will be improvement across the board.

In other Rangers news, Jamie O’Hara has been left baffled by a fan’s admission.

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