Philippe Clement may have breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Nedim Bajrami’s deflected effort had found the back of the net for Glasgow Rangers at Hampden Park on Sunday.
The Light Blues came from behind to secure a 2-1 win in the semi-final of the League Cup against Motherwell, having been 1-0 down at half-time in the match.
Goals from Cyriel Dessers and Bajrami in the second half ensured that the Gers will have a chance to defend their crown against Celtic in the final next month.
The League Cup is the only trophy that Clement has won in his tenure at Ibrox so far, lifting the trophy by beating Aberdeen in the final last season, and he is now looking to make it two from two in the competition.
Winning the first trophy of the season could give him a massive boost amid plenty of speculation over his position as the manager of the Scottish giants.
Philippe Clement's position at Rangers
Daily Mail writer Gary Keown recently published an article stating that pressure is growing on the Belgian boss and questioned why the club have not already made the decision to part ways with him.
Of course, it has only been just over two months since the Gers opted to extend his contract until the end of the 2027/28 campaign and they may be reluctant to admit that was a mistake so soon after that decision.
Football Insider, however, recently reported that the former AS Monaco head coach is on the brink of losing his job at Ibrox and that he may be one bad result away from the sack.
That came just before the League Cup clash with Motherwell and suggested that Clement may have lost his job if his side had not completed a turnaround at Hampden.
He has come under pressure after a number of disappointing results this season, starting with an aggregate defeat to Dynamo Kyiv that meant that the Gers fell short of qualifying for the Champions League.
Rangers were also comfortably beaten 3-0 by Celtic in the first Old Firm match of the season, whilst they have lost two of their last three matches in the Scottish Premiership – losing 1-0 to Kilmarnock and 2-1 to Aberdeen.
The Scottish giants have had more success in Europe recently, winning two of their three Europa League games, but still lost 4-1 to Lyon at Ibrox.
Rangers are currently nine points behind both Aberdeen and Celtic in the Premiership table and a title charge, even at this early stage of the season, is already looking unlikely.
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The Gers boss has not been helped by some of the performances from the experienced members of his squad, with captain James Tavernier just one of the players who have failed to step up in the big moments.
James Tavernier's struggles this season
The Light Blues skipper has not been at his best in the 2024/25 campaign and that was summed up best by the manager substituting him on Sunday with the score at 1-1, which turned out to be the right call as the Gers went on to win.
Journalist Mark Guidi recently stated that there are “huge” question marks over the Englishman’s position in the squad and that Clement could help to save his own job by dropping the captain down to the bench in the coming matches.
Tavernier produced 24 goals and 12 assists in all competitions during the 2023/24 campaign, but has only managed one goal and three assists in 17 matches this term.
That return at the top end of the pitch is, simply, not good enough when you consider how much of the team’s attacking play goes through the skipper.
Appearances
10
3
Goals
0
0
Assists
2
0
Shots per game
1.3
0.7
Possession lost per game
20.5
13.7
As you can see in the table above, Tavernier has lost the ball a staggering 246 times across those two competitions and only contributed with zero goals and two assists.
He has been far too wasteful with his use of the ball and Clement now has a decision to make over whether or not he keeps the captain in the starting XI, whilst pundit Chris Sutton believes that it could be his last season at the club.
Tavernier, however, is not the only player whose performances are potentially set to cost the manager his job, as Cyriel Dessers has also had a big part to play in the team’s struggles.
Cyriel Dessers' form this season
The Nigeria international did a sit-down interview with BBC Sport at the end of last season and stated that he felt he was a “scapegoat” at Rangers, being blamed for “everything” on the pitch.
That was after the experienced forward produced 22 goals and nine assists in 54 appearances in all competitions for the Light Blues in his first campaign at Ibrox.
Whilst not ‘everything’ is his fault this season, there is no getting away from his disappointing performances in a number of big games for the Light Blues, which has contributed to Clement’s job coming under pressure.
The very first game of the season summed up his issues in a Rangers shirt as the centre-forward missed two ‘big chances’ in a 0-0 draw with Hearts, which meant that the Gers started the campaign on the back foot straight away.
Minutes played
90
71
83
Goals
0
0
0
Shots on target
1
1
0
Assists
0
0
0
Duels won
2/9
0/4
0/7
As you can see in the table above, Dessers has struggled badly in all three of the club’s defeats in the Premiership this season, to go along with his poor display against Hearts in their only draw.
These statistics show that the striker, who has scored three goals and missed six ‘big chances’ in ten games in the division, has let his manager down in the big games and cost Rangers big time.
Therefore, Dessers – along with Tavernier – is costing Clement his job and could play a big role in the Belgian being sacked if his performances against the top teams do not improve in the coming weeks.
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