For a man presented as a ‘scapegoat’ at Rugby Park, Rangers boss Philippe Clement must be wondering just why he’s not been allowed to benefit from the herd protection enjoyed by the big beasts above him at Ibrox.
Another trip to the Rugby Park, another slip-up on the awkward Ayrshire astro, another title bid on the verge of collapse before October is even out. It’s a pattern of failure that’s been going on for a decade. And yet it was the man who’s been in charge for a mere 12 months who was again shunted out to face the cameras as the real men of power and influence on Edmiston Drive stood in the shadows with mouths shut.
For a steadily increasing section of the Rangers support, minds have been made up where the Belgian is concerned. The failure to make last year’s title push stick, the repeated Old Firm defeats, the refusal to budge from his favoured shape and system, the stat-heavy post-match excuses – all of those have added up to a sudden collapse in faith in the manager.
But for some fans, the realisation has finally dawned that pointing fingers at temporary custodians of the manager’s office is a futile exercise when there are bigger questions to be asked of those at the top of Marble Staircase.
That was spelled out in foot-high font on Sunday as the punters tried to persuade their brethren on the terracing to look beyond the scapegoat in the dugout and instead focus on the men huddled together in the directors box.
”The mismanagement of Rangers must stop and stop now” read a Union Bears banner which shouted rather than spoke. But the fans will likely be left waiting for answers from the men pulling the strings at a club in crisis.
After all, why stick their heads above the parapet when they can let the fans take aim at Clement’s shinny napper?
It’s not as if ex-chairman Douglas Park – who still holds serious sway at the club through his sizeable shareholding and a board proxy in the shape of his son Graeme – will be coming out to explain what’s going on. If he wasn’t prepared to do that when he was in charge, why would he bother doing it now?
But the questions the fans had during his tenure, such as why did he fail to back Steven Gerrard in the transfer marker after the club’s 2021 title triumph or why was the interests of his motor group put ahead of the club during the ludicrous SPFL/cinch squabble, remain every bit as valid now as they were when he stepped down in April 2023.
John Bennett’s health troubles mean Park’s successor as chairman won’t be caught within 100 yards of a microphone anytime soon. Of course it’s absolutely right that he puts his recovery first and foremost.
But that still won’t stop the fans longing for a proper explanation for the missteps that occurred under his watch, like the appointment of Michael Beale and the decision to give him control of the pursestrings – a move every bit as disastrous as the promotion of James Bisgrove to CEO. In fairness to interim chairman John Gilligan, he’s tried to at least communicate with the fans since returning to the club four weeks ago.
But given he and investor George Letham have been running the show for a mere month, they’re not the men responsible for this latest in a long line of fine messes which Rangers find themselves.
They are the men, however, tasked with finding a new chairman and chief executive and those appointments are looking more and more important with every point dropped by Clement’s team. If Clement is to survive long term, he’ll have to hope Gilligan gets them right. If not, he risks being shepherded out of Ibrox like the ‘scapegoats’ that went before him…