Philippe Clement has all-but-confirmed Alex Rae will be remaining on his coaching staff as his ‘Rangers man’ but was a lot less lavish towards Steven Davis’ chances and didn’t even mention Steven Smith.
The manager was vocal in seeking a Rangers minded coach, a local Bluenose to help with contextualising matters Ibrox-wise, and while many names were mentioned, it appears to be Rae that has got the gig and the two Stevens probably don’t.
He said:
“We’ve had good talks with the staff who are here about what our expectations are in every role. It’s starting to become clear to me, the different profiles. They’re still on an interim basis right now and they know that. But Alex is someone who knows the history of the club really well. That’s an important thing for me, to have people on the staff who know the club and the people within it. Is it possible that he could stay on in the long term? If it wasn’t possible, he wouldn’t be here any more. It’s just like with players. We need to find a really good mix of people.”
He went on:
“He’s also close with the players, he’s strong in that. He knows the dynamic in the dressing-room, which is also important for me. I need people to help in that way because I have to keep a certain distance. I can’t be there all the time. “With all of my assistants, I have very open communication about everything, decisions, tactics. That’s the way we want to work. Alex is involved in that.”
But on Davis it was a lot less clear:
“We have had two very good long talks already about everything. I understand his (Davis) situation. I have also been a player. I have been in that moment, having to make a decision. Do I continue or not? So that situation is not clear yet and we will see in the next couple of weeks how it evolves. But it’s an interesting period for them too because it’s stepping into a new story. There is a lot of motivation in all of the staff to do that and we will see what decisions are made. It’s too early to make them just now.”
Rae of course is long-retired while Davo is on the cusp of it, so it’s much easier for Rae to commit to the job long term, while Davo is still trying to get fit as a player, even though the odds are now utterly against him.
In short, Davis’ focus isn’t completely on coaching, while Rae’s is, so as things stand, Davo remains rather in limbo as he has done the whole calendar year, while Rae appears set to get the job permanently.
And that’s that.