Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart insists Philippe Clement’s job is safe for now… but Belgian boss is warned results MUST improve

Philippe Clement has been told his job at Rangers is safe for the time being, provided results start to improve under his watch.

The Belgian has come under increasing pressure in recent days with Thursday’s draw against Dundee meaning his side have taken just three points from their last four games on the way to all but ending their title challenge.

The 50-year-old felt the wrath of visiting supporters at the end of the latest setback, with the Rangers Supporters Association later releasing a statement calling for his sacking.

But after Clement insisted he was ‘200 per cent’ confident he still lacked the support of his paymasters, new chief executive Patrick Stewart this morning confirmed the club was retaining the manager’s services, while citing the need stressed to see an improvement in the team’s fortunes.

“I have to make some tough decisions, that’s part of the role, but I’m determined to make the right decisions for Rangers, not just the popular ones,” Stewart said.

‘So to make it clear: we support Philippe as board at this time.

New CEO Patrick Stewart emphasizes that the club will not shy away from difficult decisions

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‘It’s about looking deeper at the issues, tackling those issues and staying focused on building a stronger future for the club.

‘Changing a manager is not a panacea.

“You know where I’ve worked before (Manchester United), and it’s not effective there. It is not effective at many football clubs where managers are constantly changing.

‘What I want to say about Philippe is that he is really committed. I have worked with several managers and Philippe is as hardworking and committed as I have ever seen. First on the training field, last off, he is always working, always available and always thinking about it.

‘So he is absolutely committed to bringing success to the club, and we are determined to provide him with that support.

“But again, it’s a results-oriented business, so we know results need to improve.”

Stewart, who would not be given a timeframe to see that necessary improvement, denied suggestions that the board had failed to remove Clement from his position because the club could not afford a new redundancy package.

“We would not make any decision about a manager based on financial reasons, absolutely not,” he stressed.

Stewart and new chairman Fraser Thornton will thoroughly vet the club

‘That is not in the long-term interests of the club, that does not put the club first.

“So every decision we make, we look at the long term and we have good revenues, we have record revenues. You could see that in the results that came out prior to the AGM, so this is not a financially driven decision, no.’

Stewart revealed that the club will be conducting a thorough review of all its football operations to help identify the reasons why the club has repeatedly underperformed.

‘I met all the football departments at Auchenhowie last Tuesday and that was to introduce myself to them as we had done an all-staff at Ibrox which some couldn’t attend so I wanted to make sure we’ did an all-staff at Auchenhowie when we could talk to everyone,” he added.

‘But it was also to inform them that we are thoroughly vetting the entire football department.

‘Everything is fine and it starts on Monday. Because I think that if we as a club are honest with ourselves, and honest with the supporters, if we look at everything as a whole, the football club has not been where it wants to be for a number of years.

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“So we’re going to review everything we do at Auchenhowie and we’re going to look at it from a number of different angles.

“We want to make sure we have structures in place to succeed. Every decision we make must be focused on one goal: success for Rangers and making our supporters proud.”

Stewart insists the club have no intention of selling a player who will make a positive contribution during this period, while insisting the club may only be able to bring in a maximum of two new faces.

“We have no intention at the moment of selling players who perform on the park, and why would we expect another club competing for trophies to do so,” he said.

‘The chance that top quality players will enter the market is very small. Even if we can get a player who fits the profile, bringing him in in January means there won’t be time to embed him.”