This morning’s shock announcement of Philippe Clement’s contract extension at Rangers till 2028 really was about as out of the blue as the club’s pursuit and signature of Robin Propper (whose name in Dutch sounds nothing like the spelling).

We must admit we are impressed by how quiet the club is keeping certain things, but of course other stories are still very much leaking out.

But Clement’s extension is… surprising.

He was already signed for 3 and a half years we believe, so why the boss has been given another year till 2028 we’re not completely sure.

Chairman John Bennett did say in his recent big interview that the board and manager were 100% all in, that Clement was completely committed to the club and it was a long term project.

This announcement seems to be trying to prove that, making a statement.

It’s interesting that in the past three days we’ve first had James Tavernier committing his future to the club (much to the chagrin of most fans, we have to say), then out of the blue Robin Propper got confirmed before the UEFA deadline for Kyiv, and now Clement has, even more left-fieldedly committed to another extra year at the club.

The Clement call is a big gamble from Rangers’ board – on one hand they are putting their money where their mouths are and committing to backing Clement for the long term, committing to the plan with him and sticking by him.

But on the other they’ve potentially made a colossal financial rod for their own backs; if Clement struggles, if the whole thing doesn’t work out and the board has to fire him (we clearly don’t want it to go that way) it just costs even more now than it already did.

So it’s a huge commitment, and a notable risk.

The fact is Clement is 100% all in, but he’s also guaranteed a juicy payoff if it all goes Pete Tong – which we very much hope now doesn’t happen. As Rangers fans we want the best for our club and now that the board has effectively thrown more money/commitment at the Belgian it means they are surely fully 100% financially backing him in the transfer windows.

Surely he would not have signed an extension if he wasn’t being supported…

The guy has history for winning – his first season at Rangers was unfortunately patchy and rough in places, and the stuff he’s said has amounted to utter piffle at times, but the board have made a big call based on his CV and his winning past, including the League Cup.

We need Philippe Clement to work out.

We completely agree the club cannot keep changing managers all the time, and Rangers have settled on Clement as the long-term chief now.

We have our misgivings, many of them, at Ibrox Noise, and we know many of you reading do too, but as Rangers fans we support him and need this to work out.

So here begins at least four more years of Big Phil.