Rangers’ first match under Philippe Clement is on Saturday against Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership; follow live updates from Ibrox and watch highlights on Sky Sports News plus the Sky Sports website and app; Gers trail league leaders Celtic by seven points after eight matches
Clement enjoyed a successful spell in Belgium where he won three consecutive Pro League titles at Genk and Club Brugge and joins following a short spell at Monaco.”I am honoured to have been appointed as the new manager of Rangers Football Club and I’d like to thank the board for giving me this opportunity,” he said after becoming the club’s 19th permanent manager.”I am hugely excited by this chance to achieve success at one of Europe’s most iconic clubs across four competitions in what remains of this season and beyond.”I am looking forward to meeting with the players in the coming days and to meeting our supporters at next Saturday’s home match with Hibernian, as we set out together to create a successful, winning Rangers.”
“Rangers are getting a proven winner both as a player and as a manager.
“He’s won numerous Belgian titles as a player and of course in recent years those three consecutive titles as a manager with Genk and Club Brugge.
“I think he has the mentality to come into this environment and absolutely grab it by the horns. He understands the need to win and win big.
“He’s familiar with coming into clubs that are in a degree of disarray, restoring a sense of order and getting them firing again. He’s used to getting results quickly.
“At his very first coaching job at a club called Beveren in Belgium he went in there and had such an impact that he was only there for six months before getting whisked away by Genk and then turned them around very, very quickly. He also impressed at Club Brugge, going back there and winning those back-to-back titles.
“His style of play is predominantly a possession-based game but he likes his sides to play a high line and looks to get in behind and draw the opposition out to create that space in behind.
“The challenge he’s going to have in Scotland is a lot of teams will play against Rangers with a low block so there’s a number of different ways of finding that space. I think there are players in that Rangers squad who would excite Philippe and who would fit his system.
