I’m not a politician – Philippe Clement says his focus is on football at Rangers

Philippe Clement insists his focus is solely on the football at Rangers but accepts the need for stability and unity at the Ibrox club.

The Govan outfit are in a state of flux after John Bennett stepped down as chairman last week on health grounds, with former director John Gilligan taking over on a temporary basis.

Former chairman Dave King, the South Africa-based businessman who is the largest shareholder at the club with a 14 per cent stake, revealed he would like to return to the boardroom before reportedly challenging the board to call an EGM to give fans a say in the direction of the club.

Rangers go into Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Dundee, which will see the club return to Ibrox for the first time this season after playing at Hampden Park while delayed refurbishment took place on the Copland Stand, still searching for a chief executive, sporting director and academy director.

Asked about the issue of unity at Rangers, who already trail Celtic and Aberdeen by five points at the top of the William Hill Premiership, Clement said:  “Of course, if there’s no unity you cannot have a good club. That’s clear.

“But I’m not a board member here, I’m not a politician.

“I’m the manager of the club. I’m here to focus on football, on sports, on the team, on making them better, on the project for the future.

“I’ve engaged myself in the long term in that way. So I’m focused on that, on the sport side. And the rest is for other people to arrange really well.

“But it’s important that they support the sport side and that’s what I feel at the moment.”

Clement revealed he discussed the short-term future of the club with Gilligan, who has taken over the reins until the appointment of a permanent chairman.

The Belgian boss said: “Yes, I sat down with all three (Gilligan and reportedly current board member Graeme Park and former club board member George Letham) who will take over the things that John Bennett was doing.

“So we had talks about that to keep consistency in the story.

“They all know John well so I was happy that they already knew a lot of things.

“We could also discuss several things and work hard to make it a lot better.

“For everybody, it’s important that there’s stability in the club otherwise you cannot work.

“So everybody understands where we are at the moment and where we want to get to. So everybody is very motivated for that.”