Rangers board backs Philippe Clement but warns results must improve

Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart says the board is backing Philippe Clement to remain as manager, but has warned the Ibrox boss results must improve.

Pressure is mounting on Clement with many fans calling for him to be sacked after a run of poor results left Rangers trailing Celtic by a significant distance in the Premiership.

Speaking on Saturday, Stewart said that the Belgian boss had the backing of the Ibrox board and that repeatedly changing manager was not in the best interests of the club long-term.

The chief executive said the reasons for the team “underperforming” in recent years was down to deep-rooted issues he intends to address.

However, after the team took just six points from a possible 15 in recent games, Stewart did indicate that a poor run of form and results could not continue indefinitely and that Clement was aware of that.

“I need to make some tough decisions,” the former Manchester United chief executive said. “That comes with the role. But I am committed to making the right ones for Rangers, not just the popular ones.

“Cutting to the chase, we are backing Philippe at this time, as a board.

“It’s about taking a deeper look at the issues, addressing those issues and staying focused on building a stronger future for the club.

“Changing the manager isn’t a silver bullet solution. You know where I’ve worked previously and that isn’t something that’s been effective there and it’s not effective at a lot of football clubs where there’s constant change of manager.”

Review: Chief executive Patrick Stewart will look at every aspect of the club. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) SNS Group

Stewart took up his new position at Ibrox in mid-December and has been getting used to his new surroundings at a time when the team has delivered disappointing performances, with away games in the Premiership proving to be a particular problem.

He acknowledged that the results were not what was expected of the team but insisted that it would be dangerous to “rush and react”, having already sacked Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale in recent years. The chief executive is committed to looking beyond the coaching staff and looking for other possible causes for the team’s woes.

“What the board is supporting me with is uncovering the underlying issues and addressing those,” Stewart said.

“There’s been quite a lot of supporter comments and one that particularly jumped out at me. You know some comments are ‘We want a change of manager’ but others are ‘This isn’t just about the manager, it’s more about what’s going on at the football club because it’s been several years we’ve been underperforming and there’s something deeper-rooted here’.

“I agree with that. I think that’s what we need to do, we need to get beneath the surface.

“Managers and coaching staff will continue to come and go in the future. That’s understood. That is football. But what I’m looking to do, and again this is a team effort, is build a solid foundation and a real long term football plan for the club.

“If we rush and react every time there’s some poor results, we’re in danger. Just being back in the same place at a year’s time or 18 months’ time, or however long.

“But I want to be clear. I’m not saying everything is fine, and I think the fans are frustrated. I get that. I’ve been a football fan my entire life. I’ve been in that position.

“We’re also all frustrated. And particularly if I look at the away results, you know, the record is there. It’s been discussed. It’s not good. And it’s not what’s expected for Rangers.”

Though Clement has the support of the Ibrox hierarchy, and will be in the dugout when the team face St Johnstone at home on Sunday, he has been told that there needs to be an improvement in results. Stewart did also say that “every club should have a succession plan in place” for any staff departure.

“We are working with Phillipe to address consistency issues and I’m also I’m not going to speculate on what happens if results don’t improve,” he said.

“I spent a lot of time with Philippe, a lot of time at Auchenhowie. I was with Philippe last night, and we discussed the need, the imperative for results to improve.

“If results don’t improve, obviously, I can’t give Philippe any cast iron guarantees. He and I have both been around for long enough to know that isn’t the case.

“Equally, I’m not going to get into, you know, how many games does Philippe have to save his job. That’s not what we’re about. We’re about helping Philippe to identify why there is that inconsistency and let’s address that.”

“Again, to be clear, sticking with Philippe isn’t about trying to avoid a tough decision. In fact, I think if anything, changing a manager would be the easy decision because a lot of supporters are calling for that.”

“I’m looking at this from a long term perspective and thinking, what’s in the best interests of the club?

“So I’m putting the club first, not my own interests and whether this decision is going to be viewed as positive or negative.”

The chief executive said that Clement was as hard-working and committed as any manager that he had seen but reiterated that he worked in “a results-orientated business”.

Stewart’s work to look at underlying issues at the club will begin on Monday with what he called a “root and branch” review where “everything is in scope”.

“We want to ensure that we’ve got structures in place to succeed,” he said. “Every decision that we make needs to be focused on one goal, which is bringing success to Rangers and making our supporters proud.

“We really want to make them proud of the club. We also want to ensure that we’ve got a plan that works, one that’s joined up from the training ground to the boardroom, and that we have processes geared towards building winning teams across the board. Men’s team, women’s, academy.

“We want to invest in people. We want to make sure we’ve got the best people for the club and help them develop and reach their potential so that everyone’s pulling together and growing the club.

“And we want to, you know, ultimately, long term sustained success is built on culture, and we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got a culture that’s frame towards winning.”

While the review is carried out, work will continue to try and improve the first team but there won’t be a huge number of new faces arriving in the January transfer window.

Stewart revealed the club will sign a maximum of one or two players this month but also stressed they have no intention of selling key assets like Hamza Igamane.

“It wouldn’t be as many as three or four (incoming), no,” he said. “We’d be looking at one, possibly two.

“January is not just about bringing players in though, it’s also an opportunity to move players on.

“Again I just want to be clear we are not intending to sell any players that are contributing on the pitch. That is not within our plans.

“There are other players though that for one reason or another are not getting much game time and we’re having discussions with them and their agents to see if there’s a kind of win-win solution there. Again that’s a benefit of the January window.

“We will refresh the squad if it is a player of the right profile and the deal’s right for the club, and again that’s about contributing towards long-term sustained success.

“I don’t think many people would disagree, is that in recent years we’ve been focused on quick fixes.

“The board has backed the manager when it comes to signing players and then the next manager and then the next manager after that.

“So let’s take a step back and look where that’s left us. I’ve already mentioned the last set of financial figures. We are running at a loss, so for great revenue last year we made 17 million pounds of loss as you know.

“Injuries have created challenges but they’re returning and that will bolster the squad without us having to panic buy.

“What we want to avoid is any panic buying and you know for all I’ve talked about some of the financial challenges

“I’ll also again reiterate we’ve got some really strong revenue streams so we are preparing for a strong second half of the season.

“Just to be clear I’ve not said that we’re not doing business but we’ll only do business that’s right for the long-term benefit of the club.

“A quick fix I just don’t believe is the responsible thing for us to be doing as an executive team and for me to be doing as a CEO.

“The question of whether or not we do business is about both looking at the short-term impact but it’s also going to have a long-term benefit as well.”