Sorry Philippe, but you can’t keep your job at a big club if you’re failing to compete, writes GARY KEOWN as Rangers’ form continues to falter

Ten games it has taken for Ruben Amorim to go public in accepting and confronting the reality of life at a massive club where returning to a position of strength is a non-negotiable.

Just over a month into his reign at Manchester United, he has spoken about the fact his job is in peril because he is not winning often enough. And if he needed any reminders about the ruthless nature of life at sides properly serious about being successful, he only had to glance over his shoulder to his old employers Sporting Lisbon, who sacked his successor Joao Pereira on Christmas Day after just eight unimpressive matches in charge.

This is life in the shark tank. It is the lot of a football manager. It’s why big figures at big clubs earn big money.

Amorim recognises that. There’s no blathering on with him about injuries, young players, long-term projects, financial figures, boardroom issues and how losing at Pittodrie can still qualify as the best display of a campaign.

The Portuguese is at Old Trafford to win games, get United immediately competitive and set about rebuilding for next season and the seasons beyond at the same time. He is working with a squad of players that cost the GDP of a small nation to put together. There is no hiding place – and he isn’t looking for one.

What, then, does it say about Rangers that they are 10 months down the line from the wheels coming off the cart under their manager Philippe Clement and still sticking with the Belgian, still accepting dismal performances and results on a regular basis, still listening to his excuses and still refusing to pull the trigger?

It was March 2 that this project under this head coach all started to go south. Yes, that long ago. Rangers were moving ever closer to an unlikely title triumph against a wobbling Celtic only for Motherwell to travel to Ibrox and win 2-1. Deservedly, by the way, despite Clement insisting afterwards that his side should, somehow, have been 6-1 victors.

A calm, considered, forceful voice in his first five months or so in the job, it is now clear that was the moment the mask started to crack under the pressure. Now, a large section of the Light Blue fanbase can no longer face even listening to him.

From being ‘moral winners’ after scraping a 3-3 Old Firm draw at home to babbling on about shots at goal when you’ve been taken apart 3-0 at Parkhead, the guy’s credibility has gone.

Steering a straight course towards last season’s Premiership crown from a winning position would have banked Rangers £40million of Champions League cash. They blew it.

They got a second bite at the cherry in this term’s qualifiers against a rotten Dynamo Kyiv, who then went out to a limited RB Salzburg, and blew it. This is a Dynamo Kyiv side currently sitting rock-bottom of the Europa League table with no points from six games and 15 goals conceded.

That failure, given the financial issues at Ibrox and the leeway Champions League money would have provided, could have been the end for Clement. Collapsing at Aberdeen in October, with Clement branding it the best performance of the season, should have been the end.

And, yet, here we are. Rangers are 12 points behind Celtic before the year is even done and have won three games out of eight away from home in the league, losing four and scoring a paltry seven goals.

Amorim works in a league where even opposition from the lower reaches of the table have eye-watering amounts of money to spend. Look at the Wolves team which recorded a 2-0 home win over United on Boxing Day.

Matheus Cunha cost £44m. Goncalo Guedes cost £28m. Nelson Semedo cost £28m. Andre cost £20m. The list goes on. There are genuinely talented individuals there. For all that, Amorim accepts that losing these matches is not acceptable.

Rangers are up against teams scrabbling around in the soiled seconds basket for guys who cost buttons. And, yet, Kilmarnock and St Mirren have turned them over this term. Motherwell pushed them all the way in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final and will smell blood at Fir Park this afternoon.

On the road, you can’t depend on Rangers to beat anyone. Yet, when Clement was asked about his position last month, he made it clear he didn’t fear the sack. He was on a long-term project that only started in June, he said. He made reference to the club’s latest set of grim financial results and the ‘vacuum’ that existed with no CEO in place.

Yes, Clement was dealt a difficult hand at Rangers. He pretty much admitted once that he’d been sold a pup before backtracking quickly. However, Amorim has hardly entered a stable environment either.

United have been as big a basket case as anywhere, but he’s not using that as a reason for failing to get results. He knows that’s not how it works at Old Trafford.

It shouldn’t be the way it works at Rangers either, but it clearly is. Robin Propper, one of many poor, poor signings, was out again this week claiming that life at Ibrox has been so different to what he was used to at FC Twente.

‘At Twente, you can lose,’ said the Dutchman. ‘At Rangers, after a disappointment, in the eyes of the outside world, everything is bad. You have to become champions.’

Only, you don’t, do you? Otherwise, why would the manager still be in place with the league over at Christmas? Why would former chairman John Gilligan be backing Clement at the AGM and talking about giving him time to bring in younger players?

Giovanni van Bronckhorst was binned when nine points behind Celtic. Michael Beale was seven in arrears when he went. How far back does Clement have to fall before it’s time up?

New CEO Patrick Stewart used his first interview to state that he saw positive signs in the Europa League draw with Spurs and the penalty shoot-out loss to Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup final.

Penny for his thoughts now, after that midweek collapse at St Mirren. The common consensus is that Stewart is going to have a big call to make should Rangers lose at home to Celtic on Thursday.

Listen, Clement shouldn’t be in position as it is. Go a seventh meeting with Celtic without a win and all logic would point to it finally being game over.   

We’ll surely get some insight into what kind of power Stewart really wields should Rangers go 15 points or more behind their arch-rivals.

As it is right now, the Ibrox club look like they are quietly accepting being second-best. Quietly tolerating a failing manager and failing team and just hoping for the best because it is going to cost another fortune to rip it up and correct all their mistakes again.

Rangers go to Old Trafford on European business in just over three weeks’ time. Whatever happens in the coming days, who would bet against Clement still being at the helm then, enjoying a drink with Amorim post-match, comparing the challenges they face?

It would be easy to consider the pair, despite the financial gulf between the worlds they inhabit, as peas in a pod. Guys trying to turn round dysfunctional fallen giants.

But they’re not. Amorim showed that a couple of days ago. He grasps the reality of his position. Clement just appears progressively more detached from it. Enabled by a board that won’t put him out of his misery.

Valakari has put himself under pressure 

St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari knows what he needs as he faces up to a grim battle to beat the drop between now and May.

Rapid-fire signings at the start of next month’s transfer window – including a goalie and a right-back – and some proper backing from Saints owner Adam Webb are a must.

What he doesn’t need is any more pressure in what is already a testing situation, but it is hard not to shake the view he has brought that on himself by bringing in his 26-year-old son Paavo as the club’s new performance manager.

Valakari jnr’s role includes ‘analysing game model and performance, while determining how future improvements can be made’. He is part of the first-team coaching staff and, as so, what plays out on the park in the coming months is going to be seen as partly down to him.

It might work out. Things haven’t been going too badly for striker Makenzie Kirk of late, despite his old man Andy being part of the coaching staff.

However, giving jobs to family members when you’re just in the door generally isn’t a good look. And if things don’t pick up, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s going to be thrown at you when fingers start getting pointed.

At a club whose endeavours to stay up carry all manner of interesting stories and subplots, this one is right up there. Paavo had better be as good as his old man clearly thinks he is.

Grace under pressure will stand Gray in good stead 

Fair play to Hibernian manager David Gray. He looked like his goose was cooked a month or so ago when his team went down 4-1 at Dundee and, although he isn’t out of the woods yet, three wins in four games have made the picture a whole lot more encouraging.

What has been as impressive as anything about the 36-year-old, though, is the way he has conducted himself during a highly stressful season so far.

He has accepted responsibility, shown continued faith in his players and refused to deflect from the fact results will define his future and that the sack is the inevitable end result if things don’t pick up.

Despite being under duress, dealing with reports that shareholder Bill Foley and his Black Knight group were unconvinced about him becoming boss and then being widely written off in many quarters including here, he has always been extremely courteous and open to answering questions honestly.

That’s not easy for a rookie manager. It’s easy to snap, to let your emotions get the better of you. Gray, if anything, seems to have grown into his role through adversity, becoming more confident and assured in his words.

Whether Gray actually is a decent manager remains to be seen. However, he has shown, quite clearly, that he is a decent man.