Philippe Clement was sacked as Rangers manager in February
Alasdair Lamont
BBC Sport Scotland commentator
Former Rangers manager Philippe Clement has urged the club and its supporters to show “more patience” with new head coach Russell Martin in order to challenge Celtic’s dominance of Scottish football.
Since Belgian Clement was sacked in February, a USA-based consortium has completed a takeover and installed former Southampton boss Martin as his permanent successor.
In his first UK interview since leaving Ibrox, Clement told BBC Scotland there needs to be more stability at Ibrox to bring success.
The 51-year-old was asked how important it was for Martin to make a strong start given scepticism about his appointment.
“I think it’s always important but I think it’s for the fans also important that they support the manager,” Clement said.
“I think it’s the only way to also close the gap if there are, in moments, more patience.
“Stick with the team, stick with the manager, stick with the board. All together you had amazing things in the past when the club was financially much better than it was the last couple of years.
“I hope the owners can help to get to that level again.”
Clement replaced Michael Beale as Rangers manager in October 2023 and won the League Cup two months later.
However, after losing the league and Scottish Cup final to Celtic that season, last term the Ibrox club slipped further off the pace and they were dumped out of the cup by second-tier Queen’s Park.
Barry Ferguson saw out the season as interim head coach before the takeover was completed at the end of May.
“A lot of things have changed in the club in the last year or the last few years,” Clement added.
“The main thing is the club has stability to work in a good way with the players, with staff, with everybody in the club to have a consistent story.
“I think that is the big part that the club has been lacking for years already.”
Clement admitted he could not predict what challenges 39-year-old Martin would face but recalled his own experience of taking over from Beale in autumn 2023.
“The first few days were hectic because you came in the middle of a season,” he said. “It was already October, a lot of games were played already.
“The club was not in a good situation so the first thing you want to see is to speak with the players, how they felt about things, and first with your captain.
“Of course, to speak with him about the club and what was going on and why they didn’t get the results they should have.”
You can listen to the full interview with Philippe Clement on Sportsound on Sunday, 8 June on BBC Radio Scotland from 1400 BST.
