Brendan Rodgers has seen off yet another Ibrox manager. Since he arrived at Celtic Park in May 2016 there has been a revolving door over at the manager’s office at Ibrox. Tonight Philippe Clement became the latest to be shown the door after failing to get the better to Celtic…
Rangers have sacked Philippe Clement. #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/cVujqktcxq
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) February 23, 2025
Mark Warburton no more, Pedro Caixinha no more, Graeme Murty no more, Steven Gerard no more (for now at least), Giovanni van Bronkhorst no more, Michael Beale no more and now Philippe Clement no more. Gone. Sacked. Sent packing back to Belgium.
Gerrard won a title in the covid season, van Bronckhurst won a Scottish Cup and Clement won a League Cup, arriving for the semi-final with Celtic already out.
In December 2024 Brendan Rodgers had this to say: “Over my two spells here I’ve worked against five Rangers managers and every time Rangers were ‘coming’… every time.’ So for me, it’s normal. If I listened to the media and the press then we would be in constant crisis mode and constant fear of Rangers. But it’s the fifth manager now, My focus is only on Celtic and concentrating very much on here. A lot of the stuff that maybe does go around, I ignore it.”
Number 6 incoming
— harrybradycu.bsky.social (@harrybradycu.bsky.social) 23 February 2025 at 18:58
Make that six Brendan.
Belgian Waffler is sacked
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the Belgian Waffler Philippe Clement has parted ways with the Ibrox club after a disastrous campaign which has seen them trail Celtic in the league, lost the league cup final to Celtic, and crashed out of the Scottish cup to Queen’s Park. On Saturday they lost 2-0 at Ibrox against St Mirren and that was the final straw.
Last year Clement reckoned he had the title in their grasp but failed to beat Celtic at Ibrox, lost at Ross County and drew at Dens Park, getting distracted by the side issue of the Dens Park drainage while arguing that Dundee should pay for their hotel stay up at St Andrews.
Rangers Football Club can confirm it has tonight parted company with men’s first-team manager, Philippe Clement.
The club would like to put on record their sincere thanks to Philippe for his hard work and dedication during his spell in charge.
A further update from the club… pic.twitter.com/OsllXO31Ln
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) February 23, 2025
Philippe will become the fourth permanent rival boss seen off by Brendan Rodgers over his two spells at the club, following the likes of Mark Warburton, Pedro Caixina, and Michael Beale. All who failed to keep up with the Irishman and were put firmly in their place. Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou played honourable parts too in keeping that Ibrox door turning, but it Brendan who leads the way in his own personal head-count.
It remains to be seen who will replace the Belgian as the new challenger to the Irishman, but it looks likely whoever is placed in charge will only be a stop gap until the 49ers take control and install the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho or maybe even Derek McInnes.
It could be that Alex Rae possibly takes the reins if he doesn’t depart with the Belgian, he’s staunch enough after all. Now that is quite a prospect, for the Celtic supporters anyway.
Of course theRangers supporters want Gerrard who is currently between jobs after leaving his role in Saudi Arabia by mutual consent. It’s widely known that Michael Beale was the brains behind that partnership which given his subsequent time in charge, tells its own story about Gerrard who used to be quoted as the next Liverpool manager. Not anymore.
As far as Clement is concerned it has to be said he provided the Celtic support with so many enjoyable moments. Hopefully he gets every penny that he is due.
Thanks Phil!
Jst incase anyone missed it 😂😂😂🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪pic.twitter.com/bd6eaGN8Rw
— Bernadette Devlin (@BernieDevlin68) February 23, 2025
Something that Tom English of the BBC had to say about Philippe Clement…
▫️ ‘Proven winner as a player & manager’
▫️ Success in Belgium & quick impact
▫️ Style of play, expectations & standardsAs Rangers interview candidates on their final shortlist – if Philippe Clement was to win the race – @scott_coyne explains what he would bring to Ibrox ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/sVXIq2dhNf
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) October 10, 2023
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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This sacking comes at the most senseless of times!