Clement talks a good game, but talking about catching Celtic, and actually catching them, are two completely different things

I read Philippe Clement’s first interview at Ibrox yesterday in the Herald, as he was officially unveiled to the usual hype and fanfare that happens over there.

My first initial impression is that he talks a good game.

In fact, right now, he appears to be the only bit of sanity emanating from the madhouse that is Ibrox.

He appears to be level headed, there is none of the bluster that we witnessed from his predecessor.

The Belgian has been around a bit longer than that.

However, there is bravado.

To be a manager at that club, there always has to be bravado.

He wants to win everything, he says that’s his mentality.

Then again, I suppose there’s no point in being a football manager if you don’t want to win everything.

Otherwise, why would you bother?

For me, this is more about analysing the threat that Clement now poses to Celtic.

Do I think he will give Brendan Rodgers and Celtic a stiffer challenge than his predecessor?

I do, but simply because this man is vastly more experienced than Michael Beale was.

Clement is not a gamble.

Nor is he the typical kind of choice you’d think the Ibrox board would select.

He’s somewhere in between.

Eleven years and ten managers later, they’re trying a different approach.

But how can you define different amidst ten different attempts?

Only time will tell.

One thing that will never change at Ibrox, however, is the fanbase.

Closely followed by the board’s attitude towards said fanbase.

You see, ultimately, it’s this relationship that will define whether Clement is a success or not.

Because it has defined the success and failure of all previous ten managers.

Clement seems like a smart man, and he touched on this subject in his interview:

This synergy between fans and players is going to be one of the major points over the next couple of weeks. It’s about me explaining this to the players and doing the right things on the pitch. I hope that the fans understand that and know how much power they have when they go behind players in a positive way.

How much power they have.

You’d better believe they have power, and you’d better believe that the board has always been in thrall to them.

If their thumbs turn downward, and the boos and jeers start to ring around Ibrox, the Clement will fully understand just how much power they have.

So, while Clement says he wants to win everything, saying it and doing it, are two completely different things.

At Ibrox, if you don’t start dong it quickly, patience wears thin very quickly.

In the last eleven years, only one man was an exception to this rule, and that was simply because his name bought him more time than others.

His name, and of course, the bling that went with him.

Ibrox loves bling.

Yet Steven Gerrard only managed to deliver one trophy in nine attempts.

And that was in exceptional circumstances, aligned with an implosion at Celtic Park, and further boosted by suspected caffeine doping.

The real Stevie G was very quickly discovered at Aston Villa in the EPL.

Now he resides in the football backwater that is Saudi Arabia, where he was extremely happy to follow follow the money.

I somehow doubt he’ll be back in the EPL any time soon, if ever.

Of course, the SMSM were at pains to mention the fact that Philippe Clement turned down the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia over his dream appointment at Ibrox.

Maybe Clement values his managerial career more than he does money?

However, as I pointed out in Sunday’s article, 80% of the managers who have had the Ibrox job over the last ten years are no longer in employment.

Ibrox finished their careers.

Clement obviously felt he had less chance of finishing his career at Ibrox, than he did if went to Saudi Arabia.

When asked about challenging Celtic, Clement’s answer was pragmatic, something that is strange to see from an Ibrox manager:

It is not an advantage, of course, to be seven points behind. That is clear. But I think the major thing for the next weeks and maybe months is that we need to be focused on ourselves.

For me, a season is like a marathon. It is no use to look at this guy that is running in front of you all the time. Then you try to chase with one big sprint and you do not have the legs to do the marathon and you kill yourself.

Like I said, he talks a good game.

But talking a good game, and delivering a good game at Ibrox is easier said than done.

He is the first manager in a long time at Ibrox that I’ve heard say, we need to be focused on ourselves.

He doesn’t want to focus on Celtic.

That in itself tells me he will pose a much sterner challenge than Michael Beale did.

The question here is this, does Philippe Clement have the managerial and tactical nous to challenge Brendan Rodgers?

Can he turn copper into gold with the squad he currently has?

Can he compete against a vastly better resourced opponent in Celtic?

He will need to be an extremely accomplished manager to do so.

And all of this is before the insanity of Ibrox pervades his nostrils.

It will get a hold over him eventually.

Just as it has with everyone who has gone before him.

If he can rise above that, I give him a fighting chance.

If he can’t, then he’ll end up in the same place as all of those who have gone before him.

The Ibrox managerial graveyard.