New manager over at Ibrox presents a new challenge, and it’s one we shouldn’t take lightly…
So theRangers have actually appointed a football manager to replace Michael Beale, with Belgian Philippe Clement yesterday being confirmed as the new man to take charge of the Iatest Ibrox club.
No doubt the next week or so will be all about how Clement is the man to bring glory to Ibrox and how good a coach he is blah blah but it’s going to true that with a decent, although not outstanding pedigree in management, Clement will be an upgrade on the chancer that they’ve just chased back down the road.
One things for sure, and that is it will present a new challenge for Brendan Rodgers, but one I’m certain he’ll relish.
It’s not one we should treat lightly either. Yes, 49 year-old Clement will be somewhat of an unknown quantity to both sets of fans in Glasgow despite managing Monaco (where he was sacked) and both Genk and Club Brugge in his homeland, but that doesn’t mean we should disregard him.
Remember Ange Postecoglou? Yes he too was ridiculed by theRangers supporters when he was appointed Celtic manager. Even some Celtic supporters did the same.
Clement will be a massive upgrade on Michael Beale that’s for sure, although to be honest so would just about anyone who was mentioned for the job. He’s won titles in Belgium after all, so he has a good pedigree unlike motormouth Mikey who had a handful of games in charge of QPR.
Celtic is in a good place on the park and have a superb manager of our own in Brendan Rodgers. This is a battle he and the players will be up for, make no mistake. They wont underestimate the new challenge from Ibrox, and neither should we.
Celtic have a seven points lead, despite having had a run of tough away games at the start of the season. If we can win out next two matches away to both Hearts and Hibs then we will be in a superb position for the second batch of fixtures where we’ll be at home to the likes of Aberdeen, Motherwell, Hibs, Hears and of course theRangers and this time it will be only Celtic supporters at that game.
The truth is that Beale has left Clement with a mountain to climb and he’ll know that even before he gets the chance to see for himself the quality or lack of it, that Beale has left in their squad for him to work with.
I’ve lost count of how many managers that they have gone through since Charles Green founded the club in 2012 but was surprised to learn yesterday that the one after Clement with apparently be their twentieth, after theRangers Chairman Bennett said: “I would like to offer my warm congratulations to Philippe as he becomes our 19th manager.”
The Celtic minded pundit and former Celtic striker Chris Sutton outlined his thoughts in the new appointment at Celtic rivals and what that would mean for Brendan Rodgers, in his Daily Record column at the weekend.
“Brendan Rodgers has already seen plenty of (the)Rangers managers off the premises. I’ll bet he’s salivating at the prospect of putting another one to the sword.
“Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps Rodgers would have been quite happy for Michael Beale to stay in charge because that particular Ibrox project was going absolutely nowhere. But, having helped bring about the Londoner’s demise by beating him on his own patch with half a team missing and none of his club’s supporters inside the stadium, I’m convinced the Celtic boss will be licking his chops at getting stuck into sinking the next appointment.
“Mark Warburton didn’t last long once Parkhead chiefs saw sense and led Ronny Deila out of the door to bring in the Northern Irishman. Pedro Caixinha was next with his caravans and dogs chat and he was never going to pose a serious threat to the dominance of the Celtic boss.
“Trebles collected on their respective watches and Steven Gerrard was going the same way before Rodgers headed for Leicester and Neil Lennon impressively finished off the job. For all that Rodgers had some issues during his first spell at the club, he always had Rangers in his pocket and that’s massive at the Old Firm (sic),” Sutton stated in his column on Saturday.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
Don’t miss out on The Celtic Star at the Kerrydale Suite at Celtic Park this Thursday night (7pm-midnight) , it’s going to be extra special with some special guests on the night now confirmed. Tickets are selling fast so it looks like a packed house with brilliant Celtic conversation and music from Boolavogue plus the launch of Majic, Stan and the King of Japan…Remaining tickets available from Celtic Star Books website, just click on the image below…
