Ibrox View: Rangers must give Philippe Clement time as 'scapegoat' message emerges

Philippe Clement deserves the chance to turn things around at Rangers after Billy Dodds identified him as a “scapegoat” for failings.

Speaking on BBC Sportsound (20 October), Dodds mentioned a banner he’d seen in the away end at Rugby Park during the 1-0 loss to Kilmarnock, one of several aimed towards the ownership.

With vacancies in several key departments above him in the Ibrox hierarchy, Clement has indeed become the scapegoat for the board’s failings despite relevant criticism of his game-management skills.

In quotes reported by the Daily Record (20 October), Dodds said: “Sometimes it’s not about where they are as a club, today was about performance and the attitude was terrible.

“At one point there was a banner that said there is a scapegoat, I think that scapegoat is alluding to Philippe Clement.

“He has been made the scapegoat and the spokesman of the club, and it shouldn’t be like that. They have to get these positions filled and get the basics right.”

Philippe Clement could thrive in better circumstances at Rangers

Given near-full authority over a long overdue squad rebuild this summer, it’s worth wondering how much more smoothly the transfer window could have gone for Clement had things above him been in order.

Although the respective resignations of chairman John Bennett and director of football operations Creag Robertson came after the season began, the club was still without several key figures in the summer.

James Bisgrove and Zeb Jacobs’ departures as chief executive and academy director respectively are still to be addressed by the club, and the lack of a CEO has certainly hampered the Gers’ progress.

As a result, it’s no surprise that Clement’s new-look side hasn’t taken the strides needed to bridge the gap on Celtic at the top of the Premiership table, with some big-name signings missed out on.

Time will tell if the Belgian’s more ambitious signings, like Hamza Igamane, will pay dividends, but given what he and the fans have endured in recent months, that time deserves to be given to Clement.

In other Rangers news, one Ibrox star was singled out on Sky Sports after what happened in the first half against Kilmarnock.

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