In fairness, he did warn the Rangers fans from day one.
In fact, Philippe Clement went to some lengths to make it perfectly clear he wouldn’t be able to conjure a way for Rangers out of the club’s current predicament, as the perennial runner-up in a two horse race.
“I’m not Harry Potter. I don’t have a magic stick.” That’s how Clement put it in his own words when he was being uncloaked as Michael Beale’s successor. Well, here’s a new flash for the Big Belgian, as if he didn’t realise already.
He had better start raking around in the attic looking for that missing wand because right now it doesn’t feel like even a magic touch might be enough. He’s more likely to be in need of a miracle if he is not going to be the latest casualty of this never-ending war with the neighbours from across town.
Never mind being Harry Potter or any other kind of potter for that matter. With less than half a season left, Clement already needs snookers. In retrospect – and perhaps even some may have felt this way at the time – the initial reference to a fictional child wizard character was a sign Clement wasn’t entirely sure what he was just about to get himself involved in.
This isn’t Hogwarts. It’s Glasgow. Warts and all. And, just lately, to make matters even more difficult than it has been since the turn of the century, Celtic are spending 10 quidditch for every fiver Rangers can muster up for their manager to spend in the transfer market.
Which is why it would take a cold, dark heart not to at least feel a bit of empathy for Clement even if his own wonky decision making has contributed largely to the situation he now finds himself in. Clinging onto his position, as he is, against the considerable weight of public opinion.
Of course, at least he’s still in there fighting. You have to hand it to the man for that. There may be an element of sheer stubbornness about his unwillingness to bend and there are some Rangers fans who view his refusal to throw in the towel as another stick to beat him with. Be that a magic one or not.
In truth, after seeing him drop a total of 20 top flight points on the road this season, their patience is already too far gone for that stance towards the manager to soften now. But there will be another constituency of the club’s supporters who are willing to hang on in there in the hope that Clement can somehow still come good.
And another win in the Europa League on Thursday night might see their numbers increase. Clement will certainly point to this ongoing campaign as a sign that he is still capable of moving Rangers forward, even during this rather chaotic time of transition.
Three final points banked tonight at home to his countrymen Union Saint-Gilloise would leave Rangers sitting on a total of 14 points from their six games in the competition. And that would constitute a highly commendable return given the treacherous looking nature of the fixture list they were dealt before it had begun, including away trips to Olympiakos, Nice and Manchester United and an Ibrox visit from Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs.
Along the way, Clement has stumbled onto something that resembles a fairly functioning attacking unit. The likes of Hamza Igamane and Jefte have made such an impression as recent arrivals that, according to reports, they are catching the eye of clubs south of the border and beyond.
Igamane most certainly looks like a striker destined for bigger things in better leagues and it’s already a question of how long Rangers might be able to hold on to this young Moroccan before they are made an offer they cannot possibly refuse.
Clement has also reintegrated Ianis Hagi into his first team fold and his team has reaped all manner of benefits from the Romanian’s return. And yet Hagi’s initial period of cold shouldering also leaves a black mark against the manager’s judgment along with his public assertion that the 26-year-old simply wasn’t talented enough to hold down a creative role in his team. And that he never would be.
There’s been a fair few of these managerial missteps made along the way. Clement didn’t seem to rate Nico Raskin for a long time too before finally conceding the Rangers midfield functions a great deal more effectively when his compatriot is operating at its heart and pulling on its strings.
Then there was the curious case of Todd Cantwell who packed it all in for Blackburn rather than spend another campaign attempting to play his way into the manager’s good books. Who knows, had Cantwell not allowed his ego to get the better of him then perhaps he too would be back in Clement’s starting XI right now and using his undoubted creativity to improve it considerably?
Clement also refused to budge or back down for what felt like an eternity at a time when Cyriel Dessers was so obviously struggling to shoulder the weight of spearheading the manager’s attack. It took the manager a matter of months before he eventually decided Igamane was worth a throw of the dice but, by the time he did, Rangers were already facing up to another season without a fully firing title challenge.
All of these decisions have played a contributory part in the malaise which continues to hang over Glasgow’s south side. But, every now and then, Clement has stumbled upon a chink of light. The stunning away win in Nice. The swashbuckling nature of his team’s performance in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham which followed soon after.
The way his team took it to Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup Final before being edged out in a penalty shoot-out. The 3-0 win over Celtic at Ibrox on January 2 which finally shook a dangerous derby day monkey off the manager’s back, albeit at the seventh attempt.
These occasional peaks have not only poured fuel on Clement’s own self belief but also convinced new CEO Patrick Stewart that it’s worth keeping him around for the time being. But now even Stewart must accept that, in order for his manager to stand a genuine chance of overturning Celtic’s domestic dominance at some point in the near to medium future, he can’t continue to send Clement into a gun fight carrying a water pistol.
Celtic’s inspired work in the January transfer market has lengthened the odds where Clement’s hopes of survival are concerned. The return of a £50m pair of prodigal sons in Kieran Tierney and Jota, merely ramps up the pressure on Stewart’s dysfunctional Rangers board to respond in kind. If they cannot make a decent fist of doing so then all the magic wands in the world won’t help Clement escape from this Goblet of Fire.