Kris Boyd has doubled down on his criticism of Philippe Clement and says he does not share the Belgian’s belief that Rangers are heading in the right direction.
The Ibrox club have endured a topsy-turvy start to the season both on and off the pitch and going into Saturday’s home clash with Dundee United find themselves nine points behind Celtic and Aberdeen at the top of the Premiership table. Clement has restored some parity with a win over Motherwell in the semi-final of the Premier Sports Cup, a 1-0 victory against Hearts in the league and a credible point away to Olympiacos in the Europa League but Rangers legend Boyd continues to take exception to the former Monaco and Genk manager’s claims that progress is being made.
Speaking to gambling.com – who rank and review the best betting and casino sites – he said: “Philippe Clement has spoken about progression, but I haven’t seen it. You can understand it [their poor start in the league] if it’s a new team, and there’s a lot of bodies to fit in and get used to the way that Rangers play. But you only need to go back a few weeks ago to the Aberdeen game and eight of that starting 11 were there last year as well. So he’s saying that it’s a new team, I don’t think it is. There’s some new bodies in it.
“He keeps speaking about a young team, I don’t really see that either. There seems to have been a lot of excuses [from Philippe Clement]. At the end of the day, you need to get a team on the pitch that’s capable of winning games of football.
“In Europe, so far Rangers have been a different story. They seem to get themselves up for it and have had some decent performances and results, especially away from home. It’s worrying that they can do it in Europe, considering that Rangers have lost at Aberdeen, Celtic and Kilmarnock – all away from home. But yet are still undefeated on the road in Europe. So that would be a worry. And you would ask, ‘why is that the case?’”
Boyd also reckons Clement has one burning area of the squad that needs to be addressed in the upcoming January transfer window. “How long have we got?”, he added. “I think there is a lack of speed in Rangers’ play.
“Maybe that’s why Europe suits them, the game’s a lot slower, and they’re able to adapt to that style. But I do feel as if Rangers need a little bit of pace in the team. I think competition for places is always key.
“It’s kind of stagnated since Rangers won the league a few years ago. It’s been very stale. The signings that have come in haven’t been better than what was already there.
“Other than Jack Butland and John Souttar, who I think have done really well, any other position, you would look to strengthen it. Because I don’t think that Rangers are any better than what they were a few years ago.
“I think there’s a lack of Scottish players in the Rangers squad right now. Maybe that’s the way it’s been over the past few years, but speaking from my own experiences, from where we were under Paul Le Guen to 18 months later playing the UEFA Cup final under Walter Smith – the thing that he did was go and sign Scottish players.
“There are talented kids out there that would come in and give that little bit of extra for the jersey. Shopping in Scotland there are good players there that you could go and get, that’s for sure.”
Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football.