Rebuilding? Downsizing? Or a necessary combination of both?

I feel for Philippe Clement right now. He’s been sold a pup here at Rangers. I don’t think many people can argue that in truth.

He arrived last October, the third manager in as many years, as Rangers started last season badly under Michael Beale. This is now a recurring theme at the club and has been for a number of years.

We are now a football club that requires stability. There appears to be chaos everywhere you look when you turn your head towards Rangers and Ibrox these days.

Clement is the guy who’s going to be the figurehead at the club

Others have tried over the last few years, and other than Steven Gerrard, all have failed. Clement is a leader. He might well have to be that guy that nobody under his direction likes very much. He has been given that authority in order to guide this club through choppy waters.

He came in and quickly fell in love with his surroundings. He settled well, got results, and won a trophy in his first few months as manager.

As is the case with this Rangers team over the last three years, though, this group of players have a habit of putting their gaffer under external pressure.

A capitulation at the business end of the season, seen Clement being scrutinised. His decisions, style of play, and, of course, Rangers results had many fans asking if he was the right man for the task ahead.

For me, he absolutely is. I have no doubts at all on that.

He’s shown enough in his time here, under the most trying of circumstances, to be given the time to sort the mess that’s been created by our boardroom and their willingness to trust previous directors and managers.

“We are where we are” as the old saying goes.

John Bennett recently and pointedly told us the £10.5million losses before player trading is entirely unsustainable.

That’s all well and good, and I agree this 100% needs addressed, as quickly as it can realistically be achieved.

However, that leaves the Rangers manager trying to do his job with one hand tied behind his back.

This is a rebuild. Yes, we all understand and accept what that entails, but to do a rebuilt at a club the size of ours while downsizing the wage-bill and costcutting is one helluva task to take on.

I’m happy he’s been given the extra year on his contract as I think he’s going to need three transfer windows to flush the deadwood out of the building.

There is so many players sitting on over inflated wages, picking up a small fortune, while giving very little in return.

There are people who have admitted they’d like to leave, yet they’re still here, contributing nothing to the team.

Why are they still here?

Well, look at the managers face at his pre match press conference at the weekend… he doesn’t know or comprehend it either. He is clearly perplexed by this situation.

Clement admitted he didn’t realise the size of the task ahead of him when he first arrived. I presume he thought this squad was better than it sadly is.

That equates to really tough decisions having to be made. It might even suggest more pain before gain in terms of getting the club on the right footing again. There’s been too many bad decisions made over the last three years that the stark truth is it needs to be addressed right now.

That’s the task facing Rangers and Clement. Nils Koppen also has a major part to play in this upheaval. It’s now up to them to find the quality needed when the dreck does actually decide it’s time to move on.

The remnants of the disaster that was Ross Wilson still wafts around the club like a bad smell. Too many players signed that just aren’t up to the required levels needed to be a Rangers player.

The Rangers board and John Bennett don’t have their troubles to seek. That’s much is clear. The disastrous situation with Ibrox, along with the admission (at boardroom level), that the wage bill is too high, costs must be reduced, and value for money is essential, means that Clement has probably taken on a situation similar in scale to the one Mark Warburton had.

Different circumstances, of course, and the wage structure is now on an entirely different scale, but that’s the measure of the job he’s got at the moment.

I’ve seen enough of Clements’ Rangers team and what he’s trying to do to trust him to get us to where we need to be. Yes, fans are questioning his style of play (or lack of at times), but I believe he’s doing the job very well with the tools at hand. Some of these players aren’t up to the standard required.

You can see the difference in his body language now when compared to last season. He had his arm round every player he substituted, a pat on the back, etc… that’s long gone. For me, it’s clear he’s frustrated with the lack of ability to follow instruction in many of that squad now.

Clement clearly feels there is a number of the squad he’s inherited who can’t or won’t do what he’s asking of them.

I can’t begin to imagine how frustrating that must be for him. Being stuck with guys on £20k+ a week, who keep making the same basic mistakes over and over again. It must be exasperating for him at times.

Bennett suggested financial losses need to stop. I think most Rangers fans understand that needs to happen. When any Rangers manager is basically telling us it’s “one in, one out” when it comes to signings, that’s basically ‘tough love’ we’re being handed.

Rangers’ costs need reduced by over £10 million,  which will come off the players’ wage bill. I have no problem with that. Streamline the squad, promote youth players, as has already happened under Clement, and stop wasting exorbitant money on players who give us little or nothing in return for the privilege of playing for the club.

Rangers stand at a crossroads. The Chairman is under extreme scrutiny. A new CEO is needed, and soon. Rumours suggest that is imminent and it isn’t before time.

We need to get back to Ibrox as quickly as possible, Hampden is inspiring no one connected to the club. You can see that with the attendances at the last two matches. It’s a shithole and it isn’t ‘home’.

Being out of the Champions League at the first hurdle is a bit of a disaster. Financially, it’s a massive boot in the balls to club. Just as importantly, though, it just leaves fans deflated and aware of where the club stands at the moment.

The sad thing is, and it’s  part of what’s made so many supporters angry, is we shouldn’t be in this mess.

It harks back to Gerrards’ “you fix the roof when the sun is shining” comment, and makes many of us have that ‘if only’ feeling.

We have a rival (our manager mentioned this the other day) who are thriving. They have Champions League cash coming in this season. They’re buying players for huge fees and selling assets for £20 million+.

Rangers have to be able to combat that. They have to be in a position where what they do is irrelevant to us. At the moment, that isn’t the case.

The bottom line is Rangers have squandered so much money over the last three years that we now find ourselves in this mess.

Downsizing, rebuilding, out of the Champions League, with no home to speak of at the start of the season, is not a base to challenge a team that’s won twelve of the last thirteen titles.

That’s why I’ll back Philippe Clement. In my humble opinion, he deserves time and patience due to the mess our board has put us in.

The buck stops with John Bennett, not the manager. The reason we’re in such a precarious situation is due to boardroom decisions, no one else’s.

It’s down to John Bennett and those he delegated decision-making to. It’s down to their mistakes that our manager is being hamstrung.

Let him build a team, allow him some fortitude and patience, and make allowances for the fires that are burning all around him.

If we fail this season, it sure as hell won’t be his fault, that’s for sure.