Rangers’ 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock has heaped pressure on manager Phillipe Clement, and Ally McCoist has provided an on-air claim regarding his future.
Rangers suffer damaging defeat
Celtic’s 2-2 draw at home to Aberdeen on Saturday afternoon gave the Gers a great opportunity to make ground on their rivals in the Scottish Premiership title race. Instead, Rangers produced a hugely disappointing performance away to Kilmarnock, not only failing to pick up all three points, but eventually falling to a 1-0 defeat, following a sloppy late winner for the hosts.
The loss has put further pressure on Clement, who was feeling the heat even before the international break, with ground already lost in the title battle and some poor results coming the Gers’ way in Europe.
With plenty of speculation emerging over the Belgian’s time at Ibrox coming to an end, Rangers legend McCoist has weighed in with his opinion.
McCoist gives verdict on Clement's Rangers future
Speaking on talkSPORT [via The Daily Record], McCoist showed some support for Clement, suggesting that while he is far from blameless currently, there is plenty working against him. He also dropped a rather worrying claim that the financial repercussions of paying off Clement’s contract may not be viable right now.
“A couple of things, I don’t think the club are in any position to start getting rid of people. I don’t think they can afford it financially.
“The fact of the matter is this, he has to get better results. Where I would stick up for him a little bit, I am not sure he has been dealt the best hand of cards with the players he has left. The recruitment prior to him coming has been absolutely not nearly good enough.”
Opinion is likely to be split when it comes to McCoist’s comments, with a chunk of Rangers’ fanbase feeling that now is the right time to part ways with Clement, at a point when further ground cannot afford to be lost in the league. A change now could keep the season alive, rather than it potentially petering out by keeping hold of the current boss.
There will be others more on the side of McCoist, however, feeling that the players aren’t performing for their manager anywhere near enough, with the Gers icon slamming their efforts at Kilmarnock.
“One hundred per cent, don’t take that for a minute, players have got to look at themselves, it was a shocking performance, don’t think I’m sidestepping the issue and not giving the players any stick. Poor midfield, shocking goal to lose and never created nearly enough.”
A lack of stability in the boardroom clearly isn’t helping, with McCoist rightly pointing out that “there is no chief executive” and “the previous chief executive nipped away to Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, wherever he went”, which is making life even harder for Clement.
Rangers forward with 50% passing was even worse than Souttar
The Rangers attacker endured a dreadful afternoon against Kilmarnock on Sunday.
ByDan EmeryOct 20, 2024
That being said, if results and performances don’t improve drastically very soon, he can have few complaints if those high up at Ibrox decide that a change is needed.