On message David Edgar jumps in to defend Ibrox board over broken promises to Clement

David Edgar has jumped to the defence of the Ibrox board as the realisation drops that Phil Clement has no more money to spend on transfers.

It seemed fairly clear to outsiders that the funds had dried up when a handful of cheap and cheerful signings came in alongside Connor Barron and Liam Kelly from the bottom half of the SPFL.

With Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack, Kemar Roofe and John Lundstram leaving there is a serious lack of experience left in the squad- especially with James Tavernier and Connor Goldson lingering around from Micky Beale’s leadership group.

The main issue to emerge from Clement’s comments were that the situation had changed from the one presented to him in October when he discussed taking on the job of succeeding Beale.

The comments were straightforward, nothing was lost in translation or taken out of context but Edgar, the brains behind Heart & Hand has uncovered a hidden meaning, sharing the good news on his Twitter account and podcast.

QUESTION: Is it fair to say that your transfer plans are dependent somewhat on players leaving? You need to raise some funds?

PC: Yes that’s right, that’s the reality. That’s the reality that the board told me a few months ago. I know this, the recruitment team knows this also. This is the reality of the club.

QUESTION: That was the reality when you took the job with your eyes open to this fact? That this is not a club that is sitting with piles of money sitting in the bank.

PC: No. I had other expectations when I came in in October, but I know the reality now.

With the club slowly admitting to the problems at Hampden signing anyone with experience looks dependent on reaching the group stage of the Champions League.

Both the Ibrox Fan Advisory Board and fan media outlets were reassured over the building work on the Copland Road Stand right up until the June 20 statement of the closure.

Having been shown up on that issue the credibility of Ibrox fan media will be in the gutter if Clement goes into the Champions League Third Round qualifier on August 6/7 and 13/14 with the same squad as he took to Holland for a pre-season training camp.

Clement isn’t expected to speak to the media until he previews Saturday’s Murrayfield friendly against Manchester United with Edgar ready to fire the questions about spending, on July 21 the draw will take place for the Third Round of the Champions League.