While it has now become very fashionable among Rangers fans to say ‘Souness was right’ about Clement, Ibrox Noise can safely say the ex-Rangers legend and player/coach was only half on the money.
He was indeed correct not to pick Philippe Clement, we will absolutely give him that, a year later, with the damage from the Belgian sadly continuing.
Unfortunately he was miserably wrong with who he did pick in Frank Lampard, a career managerial failure who only ever had partial success with a Championship side in Derby, and even then he didn’t get promoted.
Rangers fans were dead against Michael Beale who was exactly the same – overperforming in the Championship, so why would anyone want someone else who achieved similar?
He was dreadful at Chelsea and Everton, and that about sums it up.
So no, Ibrox Noise does not endorse Frank Lampard for Rangers manager, and even Souness’ reasons were a bit amiss. Initially it was because:
“For me, Frank had the edge because of this; Frank, I think, has still got a great deal to offer. Taking the Chelsea job when he did was always going to be very, very difficult. The Everton job is a basket case. And have they improved since Frank left? Not a bit. So I wouldn’t be too critical of Frank. The thing that encouraged me about Frank is he wanted to do it. He doesn’t need the money. He wants to be a successful manager. And he fancied the Rangers job which is a hard place to work, the west of Scotland.”
But then he changed his tune, and said Lampard was ideal because he understood the west of Scotland football politics and the goldfish bowl. We’re pretty sure the Chelsea legend is not a Rangers fan particularly, despite his association with Stamford Bridge. And we’re pretty sure he doesn’t get the ‘west of Scotland thing’ especially well, and certainly not as well as those who have actually been part of it.
So while Souness was right not to go with Clement, to suggest Lampard was the better option wasn’t a lot better.
Of course, we’ll never actually know how Lampard would have done, but if he couldn’t cope at Chelsea or Everton, we doubt hugely he could cope with the demands of Rangers.
Decent guy, good football man, but not the right material for our club.