New Rangers manager Philippe Clement's key priorities
- Published
Supporters made their feelings clear before Rangers' recent win at St Mirren
Rangers have appointed former Monaco and Club Bruges head coach Philippe Clement as their new manager.
Clement succeeds Michael Beale in the hotseat at Ibrox with Rangers trailing Celtic by seven points in the Scottish Premiership and facing a fight to qualify from their Europa League group.
Here, BBC Scotland looks at the priorities facing the new Ibrox boss.
Tackle the injury problems
Perhaps this is a direct topic for the medical staff, but there is a big issue for the incoming manager to address in terms of the number of injuries Rangers have had in the last two seasons.
They are competing on domestic and European fronts and can ill-afford to have so many players sidelined.
Forward Danilo suffered a nasty cheekbone injury in the act of scoring against St Johnstone last month while midfielder Tom Lawrence had a setback after only recently returning from long-term injury.
Danilo (left) looks like Rangers' best fit for the number nine role, but his appearances have been restricted by injury
Teenage forward Zak Lovelace made an impact against St Mirren, his cross leading to the penalty that put Rangers in front, but he later went off on a stretcher with his thigh strapped up.
Midfielders Ryan Jack and Todd Cantwell have had short-term knocks, while winger Rabbi Matondo has had a knee problem.
A taste of Clement's interest in fitness might have been revealed in a recent interview in which he emphasised his new dietary regime - reducing carbohydrates and sugars - and extolled the benefits of "a healthy mind in a healthy body".
Tactics that suit the squad
'Rangers slow, ponderous & lack athleticism in attack'
Rangers have been largely married to a 4-3-3 formation since the beginning of Steven Gerrard's spell in charge in 2018.
Successors Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Beale flirted with a back three at times but generally favoured a flat four.
But no matter which system has been used, Rangers have had issues at both ends of the pitch.
Since their title-winning season of 2020-21, when they conceded only 13 goals in the league, the Ibrox side have become vulnerable at the back, averaging a goal against per game so far this season.
That said, arguably the team's bigger issue this season is scoring goals.
Summer signings Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers have struggled in front of goal and fans have questioned why Antonio Colak, Alfredo Morelos and Fashion Sakala were all moved on in the same window.
The presence on the pitch of Lovelace and fellow youngster Ross McCausland in recent games illustrates the lengths to which caretaker manager Steven Davis has attempted to find a solution.
Clement has used a variety of formations as a head coach, with former Rangers forward Thomas Buffel, who played under him at Genk, saying: "He puts a lot of focus on patterns in attacking and defending the box."
The Belgian likes his sides to be possession based and to build from the back. He wants his teams to drag the opposition's 'press' forward to create space in behind for quick attackers to exploit.
Clement will hope the squad he inherits can successfully implement his favoured tactics and get Rangers scoring more regularly.
Add silverware, and quickly
Two trophies in two and a bit years is a poor return given Rangers' substantial fanbase and spending.
All Scottish clubs have struggled to prevent Celtic winning any of the available trophies over the past seven years, but Rangers have much more resource at their disposal and their cup record has been particularly poor.
The Ibrox side have featured in three cup finals in the past five years, losing two of them to Celtic, and have been knocked out by Aberdeen, Heart of Midlothian, St Johnstone and St Mirren in earlier rounds.
The new manager has a quick opportunity to improve those statistics, though. Rangers will face Hearts in next month's Viaplay Cup semi-final, with Aberdeen meeting Hibernian in the other last-four tie.
And, while Celtic will be strong favourites to retain the league title given their seven-point lead, the Scottish Cup begins in earnest in the new year too.
Clement arrives with a track record of winning silverware as a manager - not only having won the Belgian league title once with Genk and twice with Club Bruges but he also claimed the domestic cup once with the former and three times with the latter.
Make an impact in Europe
Philippe Clement (left) led Monaco out of their Europa League group last season
Rangers' recent defeat by Aris Limassol was certainly a blow - but not a fatal one. All four teams in Europa League Group E sit on three points after two games.
Rangers have two games against Sparta Prague coming up before a visit to Real Betis and a home encounter with Aris.
Typically, 10 points is enough to secure progress out of a group - and that is a realistic target for the Ibrox side.
Clement has experience of the Champions League with both Genk and Bruges, although it was his relative lack of success in Europe that led to his dismissal from Monaco in June.
The French side lost in the Champions League play-off to PSV Eindhoven and, having dropped down to the Europa League, were runners-up in their group behind Ferencvaros before losing to Bayer Leverkusen in the opening knockout stage.
Failure to qualify for European football this season, after finishing sixth in Ligue 1, was the final straw for Clement at Monaco.
A good run in Europe would make a favourable impression on his new supporters, who revelled in their Europa League heroics two seasons ago.
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