Michael Stewart: Clement now faces 'Defining' 3 games for Rangers job ending at Aberdeen

Philippe Clement may have just three games to save his job at Rangers after the loss to Kilmarnock, says Michael Stewart.

The pundit told Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club on 21 October that the trip to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen next week (30 October) could round off a “defining” stretch for the under-pressure Ibrox boss.

The Light Blues squandered the opportunity to close the gap on the Dons and Celtic by going down 1-0 at Rugby Park on 20 October, and Stewart suggested the next three outings might be the key to his future in Govan.

Stewart said (28m 20s): “You talk about not getting results, he’s not got many more, all you need to do is look 10 days ahead, there’s a game at Pittodrie.

“He’s got Steaua [Bucharest] on Thursday at home, St Mirren at home, and Aberdeen away. You just feel that these three games, on the back of that performance and result at Rugby Park, they could be defining.

“I’ve got a lot of sympathy for Clement… it’s incredibly difficult to manage on a downturn.”

Kilmarnock defeat puts Rangers boss on notice

As Stewart acknowledged it is impossible to say that Clement has had an easy job to do at Ibrox, but if he can’t do a difficult one then he isn’t the man for the Light Blues currently either.

This time last year he arrived and for a while suggested he had all the answers to the mess that had built up in Glasgow, but for a third successive campaign a Rangers manager has started the season badly and is facing major pressure.

On the strength of the results he has come up with so far this season his job would necessarily be on the line, with a thrashing in the Old Firm derby and a meek failure to close the gap on the top two when they both dropped their first points major negatives.

But sacking Giovanni van Bronckhorst in a similar situation two years ago didn’t save the Light Blues from being in this position last season, just as sacking the Englishman hasn’t stopped it happening again now.

That cycle has to stop somewhere, as the club seemingly decided in the summer before extending Clement’s contract.

On paper that makes perfect sense, and if the reduced wage bill, and the promising young signings, eventually pay off in the coming months as Rangers come out of this mess more sustainable and with progress being made on the pitch then it will all be vindicated.

At present however, there are more worrying signs of things going backwards than forwards, but it remains to be seen how far in the wrong direction Clement’s tenure would have to go before another sacking is actually on the table.

In other Rangers news, the Light Blues could now be an attractive takeover prospect after a “lucrative” finance expert update.

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