How much longer will Philippe Clement remain the Rangers' manager? That is a question that the Ibrox club's supporters must be asking themselves on a regular basis these days. Every week, they seem to fall a bit further behind Celtic in the title race. And after their 2-2 draw against Motherwell at the weekend, that gap now stands at 14 points.
We have seen plenty of managers being shown the Ibrox exit door when the Rangers were in a much better position than they are in right now. Giovanni van Bronckhorst is someone who comes to mind immediately.
One must point out though that the Rangers decided to hand Clement a long-term contract extension earlier in the season. Perhaps that is the reason why it is a lot more difficult for them to part ways with the Belgian, considering the financial situation of the club and the implications such a decision could have in that aspect.
Of course, Celtic fans would not mind Clement staying. That is because it does not feel like the Rangers will turn things around anytime soon and the Belgian might have already run out of ideas.
Celtic will love Philippe Clement's comments before Glasgow Derby
Interestingly, it looks like Clement is not worried about his future. As reported by The Irish News, he said:
"No, I’m not concerned about that because I’m only busy with the team."
It does seem that he still has the backing of the club as well. Clement said when asked if the board had indicated they would support him and if anything had changed:
"es, they made a really clear statement about that in the beginning of the season and now also with the people involved (new chief executive Patrick Stewart).
“Do you think with another manager we would not have made mistakes today defensively?
“Was it a problem that the structure of the team was not good? So, those are things that a board needs to decide."
It is safe to say that the Rangers have changed their fair share of managers in recent years. Yet, not much has changed and Celtic have continued to be the most dominant team in Scottish football. So, their fans will surely be wondering if changing the coach again will magically change the situation or if there are deeper problems to take care of.