Michael Stewart has slammed the timing of new Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart’s decision to publicly come out and back Philippe Clement.
The former Manchester United official gave the Belgian a vote of confidence on Saturday, the day before Gers defeated St Johnstone 3-1 at Ibrox. However, that victory was overshadowed by a mass walkout organised by the Union Bears in the 55th minute in protest against the running of the club. Several banners were also unveiled criticising the club hierarchy and calling for Clement to be sacked.
And with two more home games in the next five days – against Aberdeen on Wednesday and then with the visit of Highland League minnows Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup on Sunday – pundit Stewart has been left baffled by the timing of the new CEO’s statements.
Speaking on the Premier Sports Scottish Football Social Club, he said: “Why would Patrick Stewart release that statement before three home games and off the back of those poor performances? Even in his statement he talks about it being an unpopular and difficult decision.
“Surely you wait until after the Aberdeen game where you are thinking you’ve potentially got a win against St Johnstone and potentially a win against Aberdeen. You are not talking about two weeks time, you are talking about five days. All of the sudden the perception is on the back of two wins and they might have signed someone in the window.
“It’s all about positioning to send out the message at the right time. I just thought he was already doing something that he knew was going to be unpopular at the wrong time. Just wait five days!”
Clement has been undeterred by the heat surrounding his position in recent weeks and fellow pundit Alan Hutton reckons that is because he has been given complete assurances by Stewart and the rest of the Rangers board. “I think he’s been told”, he added.
“He has obviously been told in the background ‘look this is long-term, it’s not a short-term fix’. Patrick Stewart has said the cycle needs to change and it’s not a silver bullet of just getting rid of a manager, bringing someone else in and everything is going to be hunky dory, that’s not how it works.
“I know it’s results-driven business and I know if it continues in this way, he will lose his job. It’s not popular with some sections of the fans but they need to stick with someone at some point.”