With Philippe Clement replacing former Rangers manager, Michael Beale, in mid October, the 49 year old former Belgian international defender has had a good impact at Ibrox, winning six of his opening eight games, and his side is currently unbeaten.
Despite a more than decent start to life with us, he knows that there are significant issues to address, describing our current situation as not ‘normal’. Therefore our new gaffer has admitted that work is already fully underway for the January transfer window so he can not only correct the imbalance he sees within the team, but also so that he can better stamp his own beliefs onto the squad by adding players who are more naturally suited to his playing ethos.
For those who like a flutter, football betting sites will no doubt already be linking us with some interesting names and the make up of the squad going into the second half of the season will be anyone’s guess at this stage. There will certainly be opinions on who would improve us out of the favoured list though.
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One of the issues is obviously the number of players soon to be out of contract at the end of the season, and he had a polite warning for the board so that the club never found themselves in this position again.
“In big parts, yes. Not in the finest details because these next 12 games will show me a lot. It’s dangerous after four weeks to make major conclusions. But in general, I know I have to get more balance in this squad. You see, in some positions I have a lot of players – maybe too much. And in other positions, I don’t have enough for a long series of games. Those are things I need to get the balance. It’s also important for the future of the club that we don’t get into a situation where you have so many players who are playing and out of contract. That’s not a normal situation. We’re busy talking in the club about January and about next season. This is the period to do that. We’re busy recruiting for next season.”
As part of his January plans, there has been plenty of talk about a new incoming sporting director, but one of the men heavily linked so far with the role, Dimitri De Conde, has now officially ruled himself out of the running.
Despite the obvious Belgium links, De Conde has insisted he is remaining with current side Genk and will not be reuniting with Clement.
“It was also a signal to other clubs too. I am loyal to Genk. I love the club and I am a Limburger. I know the club and the management, we are a group of very ambitious comrades. That is rare in football. My ambition remains to make Genk the biggest club in Belgium. I signed a contract until 2029, but that does not necessarily mean I will be here until 2029 because if the club gets into sporting problems, I am responsible. But it was a gesture to show that I am still involved in Genk’s long-term project.”
We all know money talks in football so this story is not quite dead yet, and despite his comments, I fully imagine there will be a few more stories linking him with us as we move towards January – but loyalty in the game also seems to be a thing of the past, so in some ways maybe he should be applauded.
Image from: unsplash.com
