Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd says Philippe Clement deserves the criticism heading his way today and does not believe the Light Blues will improve under the beleaguered Belgian.
Rangers crashed out of the Scottish Cup yesterday after losing 1-0 at Ibrox to Championship side Queen’s Park – the first time the club had lost a home tie to a team from a lower league in their 153-year history.
It marked a new low for Clement, whose side sit 13 points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.
Full-Time: Rangers 0-1 Queen’s Park pic.twitter.com/478kee6rX3
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) February 9, 2025
Ibrox anger as Rangers embarrassed
The defeat was met with inevitable fury from the club’s fanbase and, although Clement insisted he would not resign, Boyd feels the matter should be taken out of his hands.
The former Scotland international turned television pundit told Sky Sports News: “Clement has already had a lot of criticism – and rightly so, in my opinion. Thirteen points behind Celtic in the league, out of the Scottish Cup to Queen’s Park at home and lost the League Cup final to Celtic.
“Yes they have qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League but domestically – when I was growing up – was the be all and end all. And right now, it’s not good enough.
“I don’t see this Rangers team improving. Away from home they have really been struggling. The prime example for me was Ange Postecoglou at Celtic – they had lost players and were going through a rebuild.
“Within a couple of weeks, you could see the style of play, the fans bought into it and we know what happened next. Rangers fans can say ‘we haven’t had loads of money to spend’ – it’s a myth. We spent £3.5m on [Nedim] Bajrami which is a lot of money for Rangers. Rangers spent almost £12m in the summer and are already tied in to buy Oscar Cortes in the summer coming up for £3m.”
🎙️ Philippe Clement spoke to @RangersTV after today’s match against Queen’s Park. pic.twitter.com/1y9F9p0Kyx
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) February 9, 2025
Boyd questions board’s motives for keeping Clement
Boyd believes financial matters might be behind the board’s decision not to pull the trigger on Clement’s tenure.
He added: “The Rangers fans want to know – and I know that [CEO] Patrick Stewart has said it wasn’t a financial decision, in the past – but right now the Rangers fans need to know if Philippe Clement is only there because of finances.
“You talk about not wanting the rinse and repeat of managers – you have to do that until you find the right manager. You can’t just say because we sacked the last three managers we are going to continue with this one – it doesn’t work like that.”
Gerrard to return?
Steven Gerrard has already been installed as favourite to take over should Clement leave and make an emotional return to Glasgow.
The former England midfielder, who left Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq last month, led Rangers to the 2020-21 Scottish Premiership, denying Celtic a 10th successive league title.
He subsequently joined Aston Villa but was sacked after 11 months following a poor start to the 2022-23 campaign.