Barry Ferguson had the pleasure of a 20 minute meeting with Philippe Clement and was left blown away by the former Monaco boss.
Alongside Ian Durrant the former Alloa boss was invited on the La Manga trip to provide some staunchness for the corporate bears that were kept at arms length from the current squad.
Based in a run of the mill hotel and cycling to training every day Clement’s squad were spared the worst excesses of the fat cats as they laid siege on the buffet facilities and kept the bar staff busy long into the night.
That aspect of the trip has been left to social media to comment on despite several legacy reporters being on the trip.
Ferguson’s invite was to spread good news to Go Radio and the Daily Record while fans wait around for new signings and the dream of Lawrence Shankland arriving from Hearts.
Fergie doesn’t need much encouragement to drool over the Tribute Act, in classic fashion he shares the good news with the Record‘s ageing Army of Readers:
There are some people in life who you meet one minute and instantly forget about the next. And there are others who leave a lasting impression.
It’s hard to put into words – they just have that aura about them – and, in my experience, these people don’t come around all that often. But let’s just say, I caught up with one of them the other day. I was over at the Rangers training camp in La Manga last week and I had the pleasure of bumping into Philippe Clement at the team hotel after dinner last Saturday night.
It was the first time I’ve had the chance to introduce myself to the manager since his appointment and I’m certainly not going to go into any detail about what was discussed over those 20 minutes or so. It was a good chat about football and life in Scotland in general.
But what I will say is I walked away from that conversation with a smile on my face because it confirmed to me what I had already suspected just by watching on from afar.
Trust me when I say it, this guy really gets what Rangers are all about. And I can think of no bigger compliment to pay him. He’s a straight talking man who doesn’t use big words or any fancy dan phrases.
He’s just a down to earth football man who understands what it means to be in charge of this club and the demands that come with the job. Most of all, he realises that the key to life as the Rangers manager is to be a winner.
I’ll be honest here, I’m not easily impressed. But I walked away thinking to myself, ‘That’s one impressive individual – this guy really does get what it’s all about!’.
I’ve also met more than a few managers in my time. Some good. Some others not so much. So I know a proper one when I see one. He fully understands the club, the demands and the expectations. And I was left with the feeling that my old club is in really good hands.
The line of a ‘proper manager’ seems almost compulsory to use in relation to Clement, it suggests that from Coisty and Warbo through to Micky Beale the club had been managed by counterfeit bosses.
I met Philippe Clement in Spain and Rangers boss blew me away because he just gets it | Barry Fergusonhttps://t.co/vvpQIbmnNrhttps://t.co/hH7ZeCz4Hz
— Daily Record Sport (@Record_Sport) January 19, 2024
It’s hard for Barry to put “Six cans of lager and a steak bake” into words.
Barry said “I was left with the feeling that my old club is in really good hands”. Has no one told him yet!
Ha!
A fun article for a Friday morning.
The Bold Bazza is – apparently – “not easily impressed”, but in his measured
opinion, it took him less than 20 minutes to determine that Clement is indeed
the real deal: perhaps the next ibrox Messiah?
Got a feeling of deja vu, yet again! 🙂
Lol wee Benny Ferguson giving it Poirot doesn’t use big fancy words or phrases,wee Benny is that thick of Poirot did use them he would never know.
I wonder if Benny took his dot to dot colouring in book and crayons to the camp.
Get it!!!!,, lil baz does gitter sum garbage,,,same old waffle about another manager, we’ve had a rite few(proper) one’s over last few years,
It is beyond pathetic.giving this guy media duties.scotlands sevco media shame.
You would think that anyone with even a modicum of intelligence would head for the exit pronto if they really did “get what Rangers are all about”. Who in their right might would want to be tarnished by association with a club whose fans sing the praises of a fascist razor gang leader that set up his own branch of the KKK, or that covers an entire stand with a tifo of a guy with similar beliefs and murderous, anti-Irish tendencies in 19th Century New York?
Wee Barry ??…Met him a few times…and he’s not the brightest.
So I’m pleased that he thinks the sun shines out of Clements’ posterior…
Canny wait for it all to go bad again.
Oh man – what bloody sick bucket induced cold vomit…
And it’ll work because The Sevco Huns will buy it in their droves –
Any Celtic ‘fan’ that buys that truly needs SECTIONED under Scotland’s mental health act !
“…this guy really gets what Rangers are all about.” That’ll be bigotry, then.
Sounds as if ye want tae blow him aff
“I knew he was a wrong ‘un the minute I met him.” Barry Ferguson.
Sorry that is copy for next month.
Wonder if the ex-players take it in turns to have a shot of the immortal line “he just gets it”, every bampot that takes that job “just gets it”.
“It” tends to mean a P45 if the last few are anything to go by, still though
HH
Bawwy keeps forgetting about the next minute all the time. That’s a part of his problem!
And He doesn’t use any big words – probably because he doesn’t know any!
And I think I recall he used the same pugwash about the qualities of the previous Manager, or was it the one before him, or the one before him, or … !
I wonder if they discussed Phillipe’s Red Card in the Friendly with Hertha Berlin?
Very unususal and a sign of over-ambition, perhaps!