With just the formalities to be completed before Phil Clement is sacked at Ibrox it is well worth recalling the hero worship that he was afforded a few months ago by Tom English.
The Chief Sports Writer at BBC Scotland has a long record for spectacularly misjudging individuals, turning into a fan-boy for all things Ibrox related while stomping all over those at Celtic that produce results and deliver trophies.
In June 2023 English went completely overboard during an Irish podcast as he slaughtered the personality and character of Brendan Rodgers. BBC Scotland have been off the invite list for Celtic media conferences ever since although the club has complied with contractual obligations on match days.
Back in the summer of 2023 Micky Beale was the blue-eyed boy for all at BBC Scotland, bringing in Todd Cantwell and Nicky Raskin for bargain fees then lifting the Dead Rubber Trophy to put Celtic’s treble success under Ange Postecoglou in the shade.
Beale barely lasted into the new season, humiliated by Rodgers then Barry Robson he was chased down Edmiston Drive to be replaced by A Proper Football Manager from Belgium who put a ruddy glow of excitement into English’s face.
Soon the Honest Mistakes were flowing, Celtic hit a wobble. Although they won the December Glasgow Derby the momentum was with Phil Clement who bagged a trophy by seeing off Aberdeen who were soon to be managed by Neil Warnock.
Springtime was wonderful for English, full of promise with Celtic in meltdown and the prospect of a treble success at Ibrox, something he first dreamt about when Steven Gerrard won the only trophy of his managerial career.
April 7 promised to be Coronation Day. Celtic were the visitors to Ibrox, holding a one point lead but having played a game more and with no fans inside the ground.
Victory for Clement followed up by away wins at Ross County and Dundee would put the Ibrox Tribute Act five points clear going into the split- they could even afford to lose the final Derby of the season and still win the title.
English would be able to join his BBC colleagues Kenny Macintyre, Alasdair Lamont, Neil McCann and Jane Lewis, invading George Square to let off steam, singing their cultural chants of superiority.
There was no holding back the Chief Sports Writer at BBC Scotland as he saluted A Proper Football Manager in the finest traditions of Succulent Lamb.
Nothing could halt Clement’s Coronation, English worked out every eventuality as he prepared for a happy and glorious afternoon to end the career of Rodgers who had apparently never faced a real challenge while in charge of Celtic.
Under Philippe Clement, Rangers have dropped only eight points in 22 games. Expecting them to drop five or six in what would be six remaining games is a bit of a stretch.
Hi Tom, they managed to lose six in the three matches following English’s premature celebrations.
Clement has won 19 of 22 league games since becoming manager in October. A victory on Sunday would mean that, in the entire history of the Ibrox club, only Bill Struth (21) and David White (22) will have won 20 league games in fewer matches.
They’re seven points better off in 2024 than Celtic. In Clement, we are seeing the kind of sure touch that has been, for so long, the exclusive preserve of the manager from across town.
In his short time, Clement has shown the restorative powers of Ange Postecoglou when he took over after the 10-in-a-row-that-never-was and the feelgood energy of Rodgers in his first coming, after the flatlining of Ronny Deila’s final season.
The Belgian has brought hope when it was previously thin on the ground. He has revived players who were looking tired and added vitality with some astute new signings.
Hope to the Sports Department at BBC Scotland is very different to reality, something that few employees of the state broadcaster have a grasp of.
He’s had a battalion of injuries to contend with, but has made light of them.
Abdallah Sima, one of his principal attackers, is only recently back after more than two months out. Danilo, another of his goalscoring options, hasn’t played since early December. Others – far too many for his liking – have played bit parts only.
Clement has had one transfer window and he’s made hay. Ready-made starters, rather than young project players, have been recruited and put straight into the team rather than deposited in finishing school.
Mohamed Diomande has become a mainstay of the midfield. Fabio Silva has played 10 league games. Oscar Cortes six, though he’s been one of the injured ones since late February.
Diomande, Silva and Cortes were missing from the Starting XI at Aberdeen last night, one of them came in on a very expensive loan with £8.5m committed on the other two flops. Jimmy Thalin has build a title challenge from a £2m war-chest after selling last season’s top scorer.
The prospect that Celtic might win at Ibrox in April or that Clement might have to settle for a moral victory never merited a passing thought from English, the man that was still championing Craig Whyte after he had been ditched by Keith and James at the Record.
English explained:
Rangers have shown a capacity to win ugly, an essential requirement of any team with title aspirations. They’re now displaying steel and belief rather than just talking about steel and belief.
Everything goes back to Clement, a manager of action rather than a talking shop.
Too often in the past, Rangers managers, coaches and players have expressed madcap delusions of superiority over their city rivals, a form of collective hypnosis that was surreal to observe.
Clement has brought clarity of message and purpose. He’s driven much of the hubris out the door and you get the impression that if any still lurks in the corridors of the training ground he’ll find it and get rid of it.
There’s a relentlessness about Clement, a refusal to allow anybody to smell the roses until the job is done. Every time he’s asked to project too far forward, he repeats his mantra. Next game, next game, next game. Right man, right place, right time.
The egg-chasing expert concluded with:
You can hang your hat on Clement staying cool, or what constitutes cool on such a day. But in the heat of Sunday it’s the amount of ice he’s managed to put in the veins of his players that will count.
He’s done so much in such a short space of time, but the biggest test of his mettle, and the mettle of the team built in his image, is upon him now.
Other than declaring Craig Whyte as a billionaire it is hard to come up with a less accurate profile of someone.
Using his trademark style of cheerleading English will soon be ushering in the next manager at Ibrox with Clement about to leave without even a Dead Rubber victory over Celtic for English to get his teeth into.
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2 Comments
by John A
English is a fool, knows nothing about football and is nothing more than a Sevco fanboy
by Derek Conway
Tom English…a fool and a clown of the highest order.
Why is he even in a job….totally clueless. 🙈