Crazed Clement puts £30-40m price tag on Ibrox ‘ace’

Phil Clement has accelerated his erratic behaviour by claiming that it would take an offer of £30-40m to take Jack Butland from Ibrox!

After a reasonable start in charge at Ibrox the former Monaco boss is only a few media conferences away from going full on Pedro Caixinha. Clement has been unflatteringly dubbed as the Belgian Beale but now seems to be even further from reality than the Brains Behind Gerrard.

In February Clement had somehow taken Beale’s squad into top place in the SPFL with a Quadruple openly discussed by fans and in the awe-struck media. Dave King added a note of caution, discussing his fears that the Belgian could be tempted away by Manchester United, Liverpool or Bayern Munich as they searched for a new manager.

Failure to win the SPFL title has come at an incredible cost, financially and in terms of the sanity of the manager.

A rebuild has been expected but with no takers for the job lot of losers accumulated by Micky Beale and Giovanni van Bronckhorst the financial reality has hit Clement in the face.

Plans to oversee a summer clear out haven’t got off the ground, names like Goldson, Lawrence, Davies, Matondo, Dowell and Wright were involved against Ajax on Saturday.

Clement’s media dealings are increasingly erratic, as well as a squad of failures he also has to cope with questions over the closure of Ibrox ahead of a season on the road with Hampden still to be confirmed as his side’s temporary home.

After revealing that every player is up for sale, not that there are any takers, he emphasised to the Daily Record that one star was basically excluded from that policy:

I don’t speak now about Connor and Tav, it is just in general, all over the world it doesn’t work that way. You always need to be with two parties. Every player falls into that category. Only Jack [does not].

If somebody comes with £30million or £40million you can replace him for that money. Every player falls into that category. We need money to replace him. If it is a good amount you can replace him and do something else. We will see.

It will be a long wait to find any bid coming in for Super Jack who couldn’t get into the England squad where Everton’s Jordan Pickford is the clear first pick.

Arsenal reserve Aaron Ramsdale is the back-up with Dean Henderson, following 18 EPL appearances for Crystal Palace the third choice for Southgate.

Pickford has been England’s first choice ‘keeper since 2018 without any club ever showing interest in taking him from Goodison Park.

At the age of 31 no club will be rushing out to sign Butland who was available as a free agent a year ago. When the pressure was on last season he wilted with Southgate watching a classic performance in the 3-3 draw against Celtic in April.

Within 30 seconds James Tavernier belted a clearance against Daizen Maeda with the ball flying straight past Butland, later in that half he was the victim of a Panenka from Matt O’Riley.

Adam Idah posted notice of his threat when he fired a low shot past Butland’s legs, a month later in the final of the Scottish Cup the on loan striker was gifted the winning goal from Clement’s £30m star.

After the 3-3 draw at home to Celtic A Proper Football Manager indulged in a heart-pumping lap of honour that seems to have done lasting damage.

Clement’s comments are as madcap as Butland’s form, it looks like they are in the final stages of their partnership with the former Monaco boss about to suffer the same fate as van Bronckhorst and Beale.