Following Philippe Clement’s arrival at Ibrox as Michael Beale’s replacement back in October 2023, very simply put, Rangers have not looked back when it comes to our on pitch form.
Under the charge of the 49 year old former Belgian international defender, Rangers have got their 2023/24 Scottish Premiership campaign properly back on track, and our new gaffer has picked up 14 wins and three draws from his opening 18 games in charge, meaning only one unfortunate defeat, and that is a Sweet Bonanza few saw coming with our earlier struggles.
That is a fantastic turn around in form though when you consider the path that we had previously been on, and as the second half of the season ticks by, fans will naturally be expecting further improvement in our play as the players themselves become far more acquainted with his system and wants.
Of course, now that we are in the New Year and January, Clement can slightly fast track that process as he now has the opportunity to shape and build a playing squad that he wants, and even though we are only into the first few days of the transfer window, he has already moved incredibly quickly to bring in highly rated 21 year old Portuguese attacker Fabio Silva.
The former Porto prodigy made his debut for us as a substitute in our last match against Kilmarnock as he begins to bed into life at the club on his loan spell until the end of the campaign, and he comes in with decent Premier League experience when you consider his age – and it should not be forgotten that the Midlands outfit were originally prepared to pay £35.6 million for his future potential back in 2020.
It also seems that Clement is far from done in the window, as in a recent press interview, he teased that he planned on being ‘very active’ over the next month and would be using the annual Scottish winter break to truly focus on future recruitment given his training calendar would be much reduced with his first team group getting some time off to recharge, let their hair down and spend some greater time with their families at this point of the year.
“How active? I think very active every day by looking at a lot of players together with the people at the club. And then we will see how much we can make happen. The things we want, we are not going to sign ten players, don’t worry. I have other things to do, it is not only training we have a January mercato (market) to come so I need to watch players. I don’t like to switch off. For me, it is not important. My body does not have to do anything anymore and my brain doesn’t explode from doing that all the time. I love it and I will do it.”
Now fans themselves will have their own positions of priority to improve on here, and as per Clement’s words that we will not be signing ten players, we can safely assume that he is serious on wanting to add at least another two or three to the group – and again we can all probably identify those that he might like to cash in on to help balance the books a bit more, or at the very least loan out for better experience and reduce the wage bill a touch to give him more wriggle room.
One player who wants to remove himself from the potential sale list is midfielder John Lundstram. The 29 year old former Sheffield United player is approaching the natural end of his contract come the summer, and he is certainly saying the right things about staying and wanting a new deal – insisting there is ‘no limit’ to what the club can achieve under the new gaffer.
Most will probably expect him to have finally agreed a new deal in the very near future given his game time under Clement so far, as it more than seems our new boss trusts him in the middle of the park and whilst he will undoubtedly want to further tweak the squad to suit his ultimate aims, key players in the spine of the group will only be replaced if there is an immediate and obvious improvement available. Many will accept Lundstram currently occupies a position that is not in need of immediate improvement.
“I’ve never shied away from saying how much I love the club and how much I’d love to stay. But it’s obviously between me and the club to sort something out. I hope that’s in the pipeline, of course but that’s between me and the club to sort out. But I would love to stay.”
Lundstram has undoubtedly played his part in Clement’s resurgence, and when games in hand are factored in, we could potentially only be two points off top spot, so a proper tilt this year is not out of the question and that did not feel like it was on the cards really even a couple of months ago.
Let us see what the next few months bring.
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