Chris Sutton predicts when Rangers will sack Philippe Clement as St Mirren loss leaves him 'closer to the cliff edge'
12/28/2024 10:00 AM
After so much good work before Christmas, has that St Mirren reverse undone all the progress Philippe Clement has made at Rangers?
Chris Sutton certainly thinks so.
This, the Celtic legend argues, was typical of the Philippe Clement era. A few steps forward, followed by one massive stumble back in the other direction. If the Rangers supporters could handle a valiant penalty shoot-out defeat by their Old Firm rivals at Parkhead, then a 2-1 defeat in Paisley was far more difficult to accept.
Not only because of the scoreline – Caolan Boyd-Munce thumping home a 93rd minute winner – but because of the nature of the performance.
Clement was ‘so angry’ with the way his Rangers side were bullied by a physical, aggressive St Mirren outfit who, during the first-half in particular, seemed to want it more, as they say. He will not have been the only one.
With four defeats from eight away league matches this season, the Gers faithful have seen this sort of performance far too often under a coach who’s arrival back in 2023 was supposed to take the perennial runners-up to the next level.
Clement’s record against arch rivals Celtic, meanwhile, is perhaps the biggest stick with which to beat the Belgian. That spot-kick failure at Hampden Park was his fifth loss in six Old Firm derbies.
And speaking ahead of Celtic’s trip to Ibrox on January 2nd, Hoops icon Sutton feels Clement would be fortunate to survive a sixth in seven.
Chris Sutton backs Celtic to end Philippe Clement’s Rangers reign
“Brendan Rodgers spoke a year ago about facing five Rangers managers [during his time in the Celtic dugout],” Sutton tells the Daily Record. “By Friday, he might have to nudge that number up to six. Philippe Clement could easily be his next victim within the next few days.
“Now, it's Clement who is being battered. If [Rodgers] delivers another boot to the Belgian on Thursday, I don't see how Clement can survive yet another Old Firm reverse. Any time he puts some credit in the bank, he always finds a way to empty his account.
“It's been an endless cycle and Clement can't bridge the gap. The Belgian does some good stuff, then completely fluffs it.”
The way Rangers pressed and harried Celtic at Hampden Park did paint the picture of a team on the rise.
Sutton, however, does not see things that way. Instead, he highlights the fact that a below-par Celtic managed to grind out a win against a Rangers side who produced their A-game at the national stadium and still ended up with broken hearts.
The relationship between Clement and the Gers fanbase, meanwhile, has been more than a little strained in recent times. Supporters feeling gaslit by a coach desperately trying to twist the narrative into something more complementary.
Sutton sees Clement repeating the same old mistakes at Ibrox
“I didn't get the sudden warmth towards the recent Rangers work. They were hardly spellbinding. They hadn't cracked it,” Sutton adds.
“Celtic barely got out of third gear at Hampden. Rangers were at their full pelt, and still Rodgers won and Clement lost. That just sums it up. I'll be honest, I'm not really seeing the Belgian as the long-term answer at Ibrox because I think he's burned too many bridges with the fans.
“Clement is just going around in circles. He's not getting anywhere and I can't see that changing in the medium or long term future. How much blame you want to apportion to him and how much to the state of the club he's working in is down to personal choice.
“But that St Mirren defeat has, in my eyes, just edged the Belgian even closer to the cliff edge. Rodgers could be about to push him off into the abyss.”
