Rangers must take notes as ex-Ibrox star rewarded with bumper Premier League deal
09/12/2024 01:00 PM
In football's revolving door, Rangers once stood out as a shining example of long-term managerial loyalty.
The Ibrox side have always prided themselves on the low number of permanent managers they've had in the club's extensive 152 year history.
But as Philippe Clement becomes the 19th man to take on the esteemed title of Rangers manager, the Belgian does so against the backdrop of a tumultuous decade.
Rangers have had four managers in the last four years, with six of the club's permanent appointees coming in the last nine.
But amid the haze of bonkers owners and managerial sackings, there's one ex-Rangers star bucking the trend who can serve as inspiration for the current custodian of the Ibrox first-team.
Arsenal back ex-Rangers man Mikel Arteta
If ever anyone needed proof of the courage of Mikel Arteta, they need only look at the Spaniard's switch to Rangers in 2002.
Still only a teenager, Rangers splashed out £6m to bring Arteta to Glasgow and it was a crucial first foray into British football which acted as a foundation in the talented playmaker's career.
Whilst the midfielder would go on to carve out a Premier League legacy with Everton and Arsenal, it was in the SPL where the kid cut his teeth.
Walking into the tension of the SPL title tussle, Arteta famously scored on his Old Firm debut whilst it was the teenager who kept his nerve to score a title-winning penalty on that fateful day against Dunfermline.
Fast forward 21 years and the man from San Sebastián is at the helm of an at one point helpless Premier League giant in Arsenal.
Now almost five years on from when he first took over an Arsenal in disarray, the Spaniard has been rewarded for the Gunners' resurgence with a new three-year contract.
A football tactician and managerial leader from the school of Pep Guardiola, the student has the faith of North London to one day surpass the master and break Manchester City's grip on English football.
Rangers may well be taking notes.
Philippe Clement going through similar at Ibrox
Whilst the current situation at Rangers is more akin to fellow former British titan turned basket case Manchester United, the Gers are going through an Arsenal-esque evolution.
With Nils Koppen playing the role of Brazilian sporting director Edu, Rangers have worked tirelessly to shift out underperforming high-earners and convince a number of young talents that their future is blue.
Edu famously said that with high-earners underperforming you're club is 'dead' and Arsenal took a ruthless approach to an overpaid squad who had reduced the club's expectations.
Bringing through the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, Arteta has also signed talented young players who needed career inspiration such as Martin Odegaard or Kai Havertz.
At the same time – in the cases of Declan Rice and Ben White – the Gunners have targeted the best homegrown players from other clubs south of the border.
On a much smaller scale, it's a more long-term approach that will have to be echoed at Rangers if the club is to find success.
Philippe Clement too is a former player who lives and breathes football and who, like Mikel Arteta, places man management at the forefront of his process.
We doubt the Belgian will get the time Arteta did to present a challenge to this country's dominant force.
But time is something Clement undoubtedly needs to overhaul the squad and get a rocky Rangers back on the straight and narrow.
Most importantly, in the reign of Arteta there were more than a few moments of uncertainty as a bloodthirsty media and frustrated support demanded immediate change.
Arsenal are reaping the benefits of commitment to their leader who has had to so often shoulder the burden of a former giant's failures long before he came in the door.
Rangers too will need similar patience as Philippe Clement looks to put an end to this culture of endemic failure which has plagued the Gers over the last few seasons.
