He picked up a dead weight and ran with it further than anyone could reasonably have expected.
That Philippe Clement might still rescue a treble from the wreckage he inherited from Michael Beale is testament to a job extremely well done. But, no matter how these next three weeks work out, the Belgian will know that the real heavy lifting has hardly even begun.
On the contrary, having worked so hard to protect the squad that Beale built from the full blast of an early season implosion, Clement must now be utterly ruthless in its dismantling or risk it blowing up in his face when the next campaign begins. The truth of the matter is, Rangers are very probably in need of the biggest summer rebuild since Dick Advocaat started from scratch back in 1998, when the Dutchman set about overhauling a team which had run itself into the ground in the exhausting pursuit of 10 in a row.
To be fair to them, Beale and the Ibrox board were smart enough to work this out for themselves 12 months ago. But, by botching the job so badly, they have left Clement with an even greater and more urgent task. And, presumably, with the necessary resources even harder to find. As things currently stand, with the league title still not completely outwith his grasp along with the accompanying £60m fighting fund of Champions League lolly, Clement will have no choice but to leave his recruitment drive on pause.
In the meantime, he may even be drawing up two very different looking shopping lists which are likely to be entirely dependent on the outcome of the climax to the title run-in. Should he manage to claw back Celtic’s lead at the top of the table and unlock a small fortune of UEFA’s cash, then Clement will be financially able to activate plan A.
If he does not, then he’ll be stuck counting the pounds and pence while pushing on with plan B instead. For example, Record Sport understands Rangers have had one eye on Birmingham defender Dion Sanderson for some time. The 24-year-old’s name was on a list of potential targets which was drawn up way back when Beale was still in charge and Sanderson remains a person of interest where the Ibrox club is concerned.
But Clement is likely to have bigger and better defensive targets in mind in the event he does end up unlocking some serious Euro millions between now and the end of the month. The need for compiling two alternative rafts of potential incomers, then, is unavoidable for the time being. But the manager will have a very clear idea already of just how many of his current squad he intends to replace, one way or the other.
And that could very well be more extensive than many might have imagined. He’ll be hoping, it goes without saying, of holding onto No.1 Jack Butland.
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The big man is a keeper all right, in every conceivable manner. The trouble is, Butland’s return to top form at Ibrox has not gone unnoticed south of the border where he made a name for himself in the first place.
Clubs all across England’s top division are well aware of his true market value and if just one of them decides to put a price on it this summer then the men in charge of the Rangers bank balance might find it impossible to resist.
An offer anywhere north of £10m for a player who joined for nothing less than 12 months ago would represent great business in the boardroom but bad news for Clement who would then have to have an unwanted chat with head of recruitment Nils Koppen about sourcing a capable replacement.
Koppen will already be studying goalkeeping options given Robby McCrorie must be running low on patience now that he’s turned 26 and still can’t get a sniff of regular first team action. Ten years his senior, and out of contract at the end of the season, Jon McLaughlin is another who could be ready to move on.
James Tavernier might be in discussions with the club’s top brass about a possible testimonial year but Rangers are aware of Steven Gerrard’s interest in their 32-year-old skipper to the extent that Koppen is already on the case where a new right back is concerned. Clement may see Dujon Sterling as the long term solution to a Saudi Arabian shaped problem but, even so, back up would still be required if Tavernier is tempted into cashing it in on the Gulf.
The same life changing opportunity could be offered to Connor Goldson by Al-Ettifaq but even if Gerrard can’t buy them both, the big Englishman may have a decision to make regardless, given his place at the heart of Clement’s defence is no longer a sure thing.
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Borna Barisic hasn’t agreed a new deal and will leave as a free agent in the summer. Ridvan Yilmaz looks like a shoo-in for the left-back role next season but rumours linking the 22-year-old with a return to Turkey have never quite gone away. Ben Davies hasn’t done enough to show that he’s one for the longer haul even if the 31-year-old has two more years left on his current contract.
Leon Balogun, on the other hand, has proven he can be trusted to hold the line at the back but the Nigerian will turn 36 next month and his one year deal will expire before he’s blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. In midfield, the hugely influential John Lundstram will also be able to leave as a free agent in a matter of weeks. While Clement would prefer him to sign a new deal the Scouser shows no signs of putting pen to paper.
Ryan Jack is another player worth keeping around but, at 32, he’s also out of contract at the end of next month and still to prove to his manager he’s fit enough for purpose moving forward. Nicolas Raskin can’t seem to convince Clement he’s worth a regular start and, amidst this uncertainty, his situation is being closely monitored by a number of clubs, including Wolves.
Ironically, the same club will have to prepare a space in the dressing room - no matter how grudgingly - for the return of Fabio Silva whose loan deal is about to expire. Scott Wright has a year to run on his deal but both parties may have reached the conclusion they are wasting one another’s time.
Abdallah Sima looks set to return to parent club Brighton while Kemar Roofe is coming to the end of his bumper pay deal as the biggest earner in the treatment room. And then there will be further decisions to be made on Sam Lammers, Ianis Hagi and Alex Lowry, all of whom already have one foot out of the door after being sent out on loan.
Furthermore, will Clement be happy to keep the likes of Kieran Dowell, Rabbi Matondo and Tom Lawrence kicking around on the fringes of his first team? He’ll need to hold on to some of them just to keep up the numbers. But the heavy lifting will begin regardless.