'Trouble' - Keith Jackson issues 'Really Serious' Clement claim at Rangers despite new deal

Philippe Clement could be in “really serious trouble” at Rangers by the time of the first Celtic clash despite his new contract, says Keith Jackson.

Speaking on the Hotline Live late on 4 August the Daily Record journalist said that the surprise new deal announced on 2 August amounted to “running up the white flag” before the season even starts from the Ibrox hierarchy.

And after a goalless draw in the Scottish Premiership opener against Hearts he doesn’t think it will do much to protect the Belgian if he struggles in the European qualifiers against Dynamo Kyiv and is then staring down the threat of another Old Firm derby loss on 1 September.

Jackson said (38m 10s): “He’s got a Champions League qualifier tomorrow night (6 August). If he gets a bad result in that the pressure cranks up again and that’s heading towards the end of the month and the start of next month when he’s got another Old Firm game against Celtic and his record isn’t particularly encouraging in that fixture.

“And it’s at Celtic Park. And it’s against Brendan Rodgers. By the time that game comes around Philippe Clement could be in really serious trouble, in terms of damage done to his reputation and his standing with the supporters. They will not just sit back and accept that he’s got a new contract so results don’t matter.”

Rangers need result vs Dynamo Kyiv after Hearts stalemate

Clement’s current situation largely sums up the difficulty Rangers find themselves in and have done since Steven Gerrard left as reigning league champion.

Every time the Light Blues hit the reset button they lose ground on Celtic financially and in terms of squad planning.

The Ibrox hierarchy are said to have realised this and do not plan to sack Clement even if the season starts poorly [The Herald, 27 July], having noted the damage done by dispensing with Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale in the past two years.

That is of course easy to say ahead of time and Hugh Keevins has also suggested the contract extension will do little to protect him if Celtic secure a fourth-straight title [Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, 2 August].

Clement inspired a major turnaround after replacing Beale last year, lifting a trophy and reeling in Rodgers, yet he ultimately failed to win the league or the cup and still hasn’t won a derby.

Rangers have to commit to someone but whether Clement is the right one is the question, even if he can reasonably point to an inadequate squad which he hasn’t been able to fully overhaul due to financial constraints outside of his control, with the Ibrox building work complication dumped on top.

Everybody wants success at the same time as a rebuild but it is a huge task and might be impossible if the manager hasn’t been able to strengthen where he wants to.

He cannot fully escape criticism himself when the Gers have looked limp for a while but whether that is his fault or the product of the players at his disposal is open to debate.

If results are poor there will be enough blame to go round and ultimately it will be down to the strength of the board’s resolve as to whether Clement carries the can, but if he does it will be expensive and perpetuate the same cycle.

In other Rangers news, a club chief has been left cursing the Light Blues after they swooped to seal an “annoying” key transfer.

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