There are many things we disagree with Rangers manager Philippe Clement on.
We don’t like Connor Goldson, we’re not big on Ben Davies, we don’t really rate Nico Raskin, and we’re not terribly enthused on Ross McCausland either.
We sure can’t stand seeing Scott Wright in the XI or coming on, while the manager often describes a match different to the stats or indeed fans’ views, well, some of them.
But what we cannot argue with is his staggering record since becoming manager, a truly breathtaking 84% win rate in all competitions and just 9 dropped points in 25 matches overall, including two European matches.
Especially given the squad he inherited to do it with.
Clement has already won the League Cup, and while he didn’t have to beat Celtic to do it, other managers have failed miserably to win this cup under any circumstances for 11+ years. He did it at his first attempt.
He secured last 16 of Europe, and he’s completely annihilated Celtic’s former lead at the top of the table.
It is not unfair to say Philippe Clement has actually had a bigger impact than Walter Smith back in 2007.
Now, we have elaborated one caveat – Celtic are a mess, and Brendan Rodgers has caved under the pressure of Clement – Angie just didn’t concede much if anything when Beale and Gio were in town, but Brenda has given up that 7-point gap.
But it’s not about what Celtic do, it’s about what we do, and Rangers couldn’t be doing much more under Clement.
Well, aside scoring… but that’s another debate.
The point is that no Rangers or indeed Old Firm manager has ever made a better start to their careers than Clement and only Angie ever had 25 matches in a row in general better than Clement’s start, with just one non-win – funnily enough against Beale’s Rangers 2-2 at Ibrox.
Clement, having spent nothing still to this day, has blown away Scottish football to unprecedented levels, and the progress under the Belgian is proven with the fact fans are genuinely gutted with a 3-1 win.
The impact of the Belgian is incredible – Ibrox Noise, as our readers know, was all for the man, when it came apparently down to Kevin Muscat or he (Muscat, in fact, was never even in contention) we opted for Clement based on his winning at higher levels.
He was a proven champion and we were behind him from day one.
He’s also a big man, a huge man, who carries a real presence, and he clearly has the respect of Rangers’ dressing room.
It is remarkable that even when he does things the fans might not like, he is still winning.
He clearly knows what he’s doing.
Can you see us now?