Hugh Keevins claims Rangers don't have enough cash to sack Clement

Rangers likely have no choice but to stick by Philipe Clement because they don’t have the finances to sack him, says Hugh Keevins.

The Daily Record journalist said on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard on 14 September that the club probably can’t afford to sack the Belgian so backing him is their only option.

Clement’s job has been called into question early this season, despite signing a surprise contract extension last month, after a damaging Old Firm derby loss to Celtic followed by comments that didn’t make sense [Gordon Parks, 5 September].

To a caller insisting the manager needs to be supported Keevins said (2m 10s): “My guess is that they have to back him because they can’t afford to sack him. That’s partly Rangers’ problem, they do not have much in the way of cash reserves that can be used.

“They have backed him as far as they can with the transfers that have been done.”

Rangers boss under pressure after Old Firm loss at Celtic

Whether it is strictly true that the Light Blues don’t have the money to make a change at manager if they wanted to it certainly would be a costly move.

If the cash could be dragged together to pay Clement and his staff off it would have an obvious knock-on effect in subsequent transfer windows, just as the Belgian himself has discovered.

Cash spent unwisely on hiring, firing and making signings for Michael Beale helped make the summer market a slog, with that cycle only compounding the year under Giovanni van Bronckhorst before him.

And if results were to prove so disastrous in the coming weeks that the pressure became unbearable around Ibrox the Light Blues have only made the prospect of removing Clement more expensive by giving him an extra year on his deal this summer.

That move may have been as much a tacit apology for moving the goalposts on him in terms of the recruitment budget but it has locked the Gers in barring an absolute collapse.

The board are believed to have already made the decision on a sacking if the season started badly [The Herald, 27 July], which is just as well because it has got off to a dismal start.

On balance it would be premature to get rid of Clement when he showed signs last season of being the answer, and even after two transfer windows hasn’t been able to fully overhaul a squad that was widely accepted to be lacking when he arrived.

But he can’t avoid all criticism from poor results and performances so must at least prove he is moving things in the right direction for the future.

In other Rangers news, an “important” update has emerged on John Bennett’s investment in the club after his sudden resignation as chairman.

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