'Ridiculous', 'Unacceptable' - Pundit furious at senior Rangers figure's Celtic comment shared by Tom English

Derek Ferguson is outraged that a senior Rangers figure has reportedly claimed that the club have to stick with Philippe Clement even if it means losing the next two league titles to Celtic.

According to Tom English for the BBC Sport website on 1 November the unnamed member of the Ibrox hierarchy indicated earlier this season that the Belgian would continue to be backed no matter how upset supporters got, even if it means sacrificing title hopes for this season and next.

The comment was reportedly made after the 3-0 Old Firm defeat on 1 September and the failure to qualify for the Champions League group stage, but before the recent losses at Kilmarnock (20 October) and Aberdeen (30 October) which left Clement’s side trailing nine points off the pace.

Ferguson totally rejected the sentiment that Rangers can put up with not winning for any reason, and slammed the “ridiculous” statement as not being “the Rangers way”.

The Light Blues are thought to have decided ahead of the campaign to break the cycle of hiring and firing a new manager every season [The Herald, 27 July].

But Ferguson refuses to accept Clement being given a pass if he continues to fail this season and believes he would need to be sacked if results don’t improve soon.

Rangers want to avoid sacking Philippe Clement

“No, it’s not the Rangers way. That’s an unacceptable comment. No chance,” he exclusively told Ibrox News.

“So we just kind of give up the season? So all these fans have paid their money, they pay their money and they turn up in their droves to see a successful Rangers side.

“This project, you cannae just say we’ll give up this season and hopefully it’ll be better next season. It doesnae happen like that, that’s not the way football works. You should be judged week in, week out with your performance levels, your style of football, and most importantly winning games.

“And he’s not won enough games, that’s why we’re sitting nine points behind Celtic and Aberdeen, and that’s why that was a massive game up at Aberdeen.

“A lot of people were saying even a draw would have been a good result. I don’t think so, I think he had to win that. To drop behind nine points at this stage of the season, that tells you that it’s no good enough.

“But if somebody, a senior figure, whoever it was, I think that’s a ridiculous comment. It’s not the Rangers way and it’s not what the Rangers fans want to hear. Ridiculous, a ridiculous statement.”

In other Rangers news, “overwhelming” evidence now points to which managerial candidate will replace Clement at Ibrox.

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