Clement Unveils Plans for January Transfer Window at Ibrox

Phil Clement has put the spotlight on Paddy Stewart to reveal what the plan is for the January transfer window.

The former Manchester United suit delayed his arrival at Ibrox until December 16 with the future, or lack of for the manager expected to be top of the To Do list.

After the heroic failure in the League Cup Final Clement was given a stay of execution, Thursday’s victory over Celtic had some gullible bears drooling again over what A Proper Manager can achieve.

To get any prospect of success Clement will need the funds to bring in new players, with losses last season of £17.2m expected to be surpassed this year it is hard to see how the war-chest will be filled. Already the Ibrox club are committed to spending £4m at the end of the season on Oscar Cortes.

With John Bennett and Douglas Park taking a back seat it seems certain that Stewart has been brought in to implement a plan of austerity.

Efforts will have to be made to move on high earners like James Tavernier, Cyriel Dessers, Danilo and Tom Lawrence while Clement will have to be imaginative as he looks to bring in free agents and arrange loans.

That message isn’t going to be popular with fans filled by enthusiasm after beating Celtic but Stewart is in place to turn around finances rather than throw around moonbeams.

Before today Clement has been diplomatically deflecting away questions about January transfer activity but after the 3-3 draw with Hibs he turned attention on the CEO who has yet to hold a media conference.

5 minutes 35 seconds

That’s something that Patrick will address towards you guys. He wants to give that explanation what is the plan for January.
Every manager feels that [they need more], and for sure in the situation we are. For the moment with injuries and everything, but there’s also the situation of the club, you need to pay it also, and I’m not the one who can pay that. I don’t have that money.

Clement could easily have walked away last summer when it became clear that cost cutting was the priority rather than splashing the cash. Instead he stayed on and signed a new improved contract, one that runs until May 2028.

At the end of last season the contracts of John Lundstram, Borna Barisic and Ryan Jack were allowed to run out leaving the first team squad was seriously depleted. After that Connor Goldson, Sam Lammers, Scott Wright and Robbie McCrorie were sold for a combined total of £810,000.

Now halfway through the season Clement is dealing with a genuine injury crisis in defence with Dujon Sterling adding to that today.

John Souttar, Leon Balogun, Nana Kasanwirjo and James Tavernier are all currently out injured leaving Clement with Robin Propper and Leon King as his only available central defenders.

After a couple of days basking in the glow of beating Celtic reality returned for Clement today- now the onus is on Stewart to front up and explain the reality of austerity while the hoops motor towards #title55.

The feel good factor from beating Celtic lasted less than three days, now Stewart has to come out and explain to fans the direction that the club is going in with serious changes needed to stop losses similar to those reported last year.

That message isn’t likely to be popular with the vital Season Ticket renewal campaign expected to be launched in April.

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FRESH FOOTAGE SHOWS THE EXTENT OF JEFTE’S ATTACK ON NICOLAS KUHN

Fresh footage has emerged showing the extent of Jefte’s attack on Nicolas Kuhn that left the Celtic winger with a busted nose just before half-time in the Glasgow Derby.

The incident took place right in front of assistant referee David Roome who flagged for a free-kick but didn’t seem to make any recommendation to Don Robertson, unlike Douglas Ross in March 2019 who was squealing for a red card.

Roome is a very close friend of Bobby Madden who seems to have kept quiet on the January 2 clash at Ibrox.

Robertson decided that the incident warranted a yellow card, with the winger getting more than three minutes treatment before play restarted Nick Walsh on VAR duty had plenty of time to replay the incident.

He opted against sending Robertson to the VAR monitor, on Monday Walsh will return to the day job at Boclair High School working on the fitness of Murray Park starlets.

Read all comments & watched challenge by Jefte on Nicolas Kuhn in super super slow-motion now. Gets worse & worse every time you watch it – so late & ball is miles away – 100% red card. Was the turning point because after that assault Kuhn was rattled & nullified – 100% cheated. pic.twitter.com/x6rGGehMMQ
— Timothy Fellowes (@FellowsT1888) January 2, 2025

Better coverage than the clip above is available in the VAR room.

From this angle you can see Jefte aim his left foot at Kuhn’s left knee, the Celtic winger anticipates that and knocks the ball back.

As he keeps his eye on the ball Kuhn feels the full force of Jefte’s elbow on the bridge of his nose producing a cut.

In summary Jefte elbowed Kuhn on the nose, a painful incident in any circumstances.

True to form Robertson, Walsh and Roome decided that a booking was enough punishment, in UEFA competitions Jefte won’t be so fortunate.

Yesterday’s incident was similar to the 10^th minute attack on Adam Idah by Joe Wright of Kilmarnock on November 10.

While waiting on the delivery of a free kick he elbowed Idah in the face, on that occasion Walsh was the match referee with Robertson on VAR.

There is no debate about either incident, Celtic players take elbows in the face, free-kicks are awarded with the punishment a booking. A decent trade off to reduce the effectiveness of a key opponent.

Kuhn and Idah joined Celtic last January, it is doubtful if it was put to them that their opponents in Scotland would be almost immune from being red carded for violent contact.

With the bar set future opponents of Celtic know that they can commit similar attacks to those on Kuhn and Idah with virtually no chance of being sent off.

Grant Irvine, a colleague of Walsh at Boclair Academy will referee Sunday’s match between Celtic and St Mirren.

Asked about refereeing issues at the 2023 Celtic AGM Michael Nicholson answered ‘penalty to Rangers’ to the amusement of his elderly colleagues on the Celtic board.