The legend of Ibrox has endorsed the Belgian and his work at the Light Blues.
Graeme Souness is adamant that Philippe Clement would challenge the best football minds to turn Rangers’ fortunes around.
The former Ibrox manager is certain that the Belgian is the best candidate to lead his former team and that Celtic’s competitors are only separated in the striking department. Following an incredible 4-1 Europa League triumph against Nice Under pressure, Souness gave Clement a resounding endorsement, putting the Light Blues in an automatic last 16 spot in the league phase of Uefa’s second tier competition.
“I don’t care if you had Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp working at Ibrox right now and brought Sir Alex Ferguson out of retirement to help them, I don’t see results being any different,” he added, adding that Rangers has a manager who is more than capable of achieving for the club.The person they have in charge is more than capable. All he needs is assistance in attracting better players.
“From the outside looking in, I won’t be critical of the institutions in place since I don’t have a thorough understanding of the current situation. I would say that regardless of the manager now in charge, I doubt he would be achieving any better outcomes with the team they currently have.
“I think Rangers need a financial boost to help the manager do his job, which he could easily do if he had the means.” He is currently leading a team of players who are below Celtic, and I may face criticism for this, but I don’t think there is a significant difference between the two teams. I witnessed both their league match and the Old Firm Cup final last season, and I didn’t witness one club outplaying the other.
“What I do see is that Celtic has players who are able to consistently put the ball in the net more often than Rangers, which is the most important thing.”
Celtic’s strikers are superior, and the statistics show it. They have a better goal scorer, which should never be undervalued, but I don’t see one side completely outperforming another or creating a huge gap.
The Hoops have increased their lead over Rangers to 11 points at the top of the Premiership standings, but Souness is certain that there may be hope for the future following Thursday night’s performance by striker Hamza Igamane.
“I find it annoying to watch football matches involving teams I have a lot of love for, but the performance against Nice was much more in line with the standard Rangers have set during European games in recent years,” he remarked.
It was wonderful to watch Igamane perform so well and offer himself as a viable candidate for one of the striking positions. The accomplishment of winning as Rangers did in Nice cannot be understated, and it should give everyone at the club a boost.
“The most crucial aspect of any football team is recruitment. Rangers made it to the European final two years ago and won the league three years ago. Regardless of the amount of money their accomplishments brought in, they will be dissatisfied with some of the players they acquired. According to Clement, it will take time for players to settle there, and perhaps Igamane is demonstrating that.
Another long-overdue post has been filled with the appointment of Patrick Stewart as Rangers’ new CEO this week. According to Souness, the Aberdonian will quickly learn that the Old Firm is nothing like what he was accustomed to when working at Manchester United down south.
“Scottish football has suffered greatly from the way the game has changed over the past 20 years,” he remarked. The domestic broadcast agreement brought in about five or six million pounds for Rangers. Bournemouth, where I live, has a team that draws 11,000 spectators to their stadium while earning over £100 million in TV revenue annually.
“That demonstrates the challenges facing the Old Firm, and I am convinced that Rangers and Celtic would both be contending for a spot in the top four of that league if there were a British league and fair playing conditions.”
