A first home loss to St Mirren since 1991 has piled all the pressure back on to the Belgian’s shoulders
Under-fire Philippe Clement admits he could get binned by the Rangers board after branding the defeat to St Mirren the WORST of time in charge.
Gers fans want the Belgian gone after another woeful result and display – just 13 days after getting slapped out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park. St Mirren did a job on Clement’s side and the fans who remained after the final whistle vented their fury. The supporters have been given hope by the San Francisco 49ers takeover talks. But an overwhelming amount of punters want the manager to pack his bags.
Clement is clinging to his job amid shifting sands behind the scenes and he said: “Those are things the board needs to decide. In the end, I believe these players want to do the right things, I believe I can get results with these players. But I am also very disappointed with what we showed today – and I am responsible for that.
“Is it not good enough? That’s true and that’s what Patrick (Stewart) also said. He also said we need to look at the root of the problems.
“Today was by far not the performance that we have seen in the past. It was by far the worst performance from my time here. Of course. I understand (fans fury). We were by far the worst I’ve seen in all the time I’ve been here.
“I understand fans don’t want to see that level. It’s about standing up as a team and showing more qualify. It’s about finding out where this nervousness came from.
“The fans cannot be a reason backs that is part of being a player here. That is part of working here. You know from the performance against Queen’s Park.
“There are no excuses. If you want to be a Rangers player you need to cope with these things. It’s my job as Rangers manager to prepare players to cope with those things.”
Clement admitted his side got scared against St Mirren. Mikael Mandron and sub Toyosi Olusanya sunk sorry Gers as they failed to cut the gap on Premiership leaders Celtic after their rivals spilled points at Hibs. Clement said: “It was terribly disappointing, because we were so nervous, on the ball, in the duels, in everything.
“I don’t know where it’s coming from. That’s my frustration and it’s also my responsibility to put a team on the pitch with the right mindset.
“I didn’t see this one coming, this nervousness, everyone below par, almost all game. There were a few better spells but by far we were not what Rangers should be
“It’s everybody (who needs to take responsibility). In the first place, me. We had a plan for this game, we had a good week’s training, with good quality. I didn’t see that today. I need to find the reason for that and to find solutions.”
Clement is refusing to quit – and he’s hanging on to belief he can win back the support. He said: “There’s only one way – with performances on the pitch. When I came in the building was on fire and there was totally no belief in that team in that moment.
