Rangers: John Gilligan exclusive on backing Philippe Clement, catching Celtic, January transfers, CEO search & more

Rangers interim chairman John Gilligan has revealed the club will stand by manager Philippe Clement as they bid to return to the top of Scottish football.

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, the former Ibrox director insists Clement will not be sacked – even if results falter – and he believes Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side can be caught.

To help close that five-point gap to their Old Firm rivals, and Aberdeen, Gilligan has revealed transfer funds will be available in January, without Clement having to sell players.

Gilligan returned to the Gers boardroom just over a week ago after John Bennett stepped down as chairman due to health reasons.

He insists he will stay on “for as long as it takes” and his key priority is to appoint a new CEO following James Bisgrove’s departure to Saudi Arabia in May. Among those he is working with is experienced businessman George Letham, a familiar face around Ibrox.

Click below to hear our exclusive interview with Gilligan in full, where he also discusses criticism from former chair Dave King, the club’s finances and much more…

What did Gilligan say about Clement?

“George [Letham] and I met him last week and we had a terrific long chat and he brought us up to speed on everything.

“He had a great relationship with John [Bennett] and I’m hoping I can pick up from that, but I have to stress that we will not interfere on the football side. Philippe’s the manager and he’s in charge of all aspects of football.

“What we are here to do is support him and probably the more important thing is that we’re seen as spokespeople for the club because when John was off for a couple of weeks, Philippe was being questioned constantly on aspects of the club that are not the manager’s responsibility, which was a wee bit unfair. I’ll hopefully pick up that as much as I can.

“It’s been difficult for the manager and it would be silly to think otherwise. Putting my supporter’s hat on, the word ‘patience’ is not something football supporters are very good at, but I would ask the fans to be patient.

“The manager has brought in some good, exciting young players. He’s trying to take the age of the squad down, trying to get the trading model correct and I think this is the moment where we hopefully back the manager.

“I’ll put myself on the line here and say we are backing this manager. This man has made a lot of changes in the background, we’re starting to see that coming and we just look forward to the weeks and months ahead.”

Will there be funds to spend in January?

“We’re trying to bring stability to the player trading model to try to improve it and I think the manager we’ve got is the man to do that.

“There will be [money for Clement to spend in January]. I think with any manager at any football club, if you can sell and make a profit then it helps with the buying. It doesn’t depend on it but it certainly adds to it and helps with the whole opportunity of improving.

“We keep talking about the player trading model because ideally we want to be able to bring in players and get them to play properly for the team and do well, but hopefully we sell them on and reinvest.

“We’ll have accounts coming out quite soon and at the AGM, it will become apparent that the financial sustainability is solid.”

Can Rangers catch Celtic?

“We have to take one step at a time but ultimately we have to win the league.

“Yes, definitely [we can challenge Celtic] because of the manager and the players we’ve brought in. The fact is we’re a strong team and week to week, we’re playing games that we should win and we can win.

“Why not? You have to have that belief. If we start to doubt that and have that disbelief, then it will start to go through the whole place. We can’t have that.”

How is Rangers’ search for a new CEO going?

“The difficult times that we inherited in 2015 are nothing like what I’m coming into now. What I’m coming into now is just a simple handover, picking up the reins and bring the stability to the whole thing. It’s not comparable.

“It’s well known that I’m a real fan, but on the business side you can’t afford to wear your supporter’s hat, you have to put your business hat on. If that means making a tough decision about some person or issue, I will make that decision.

“[I’ll be here] for as long as it takes, but I see it as months. The big thing is the CEO and recruiting one as soon as possible.

“We have a number of people who are around the opportunity but we want to bring in a recruitment company to make sure we don’t miss anybody. We’ll take their professional advice and they’ll vet certain candidates, we’ll take it down to a shortlist then we’ll decide but we’re reasonably well on.

“The dream scenario is getting someone in before Christmas.”

What did Gilligan make of Dave King’s criticism?

“I haven’t spoken to Dave personally, but Dave and I go way back and he gave me one of the happiest days of my life when we took the club back. I’ll always be grateful for that and I look forward to seeing him sometime in the future.

“I don’t really want to get involved in what Dave’s said, it seems a bit unrealistic to be honest. Dave’s a major shareholder and Dave’s going to say what Dave’s going to say.

“I think the board have made it apparent that at this moment, there’s no appetite for any new director.

“It’s a business. We have shareholders, Dave has a 15 per cent shareholding, with others on 13, 10 and so on – there’s not a big gap between the shareholders, so calling an EGM would serve no purpose whatsoever as the vote would be automatic. I don’t envisage an EGM.”

Gilligan’s message to the Rangers fans

“I don’t think we need to say much, other than there are big issues, there are challenges. We’re chasing to get the league back.

“Their support is never in doubt and they deserve the respect. I’m trying to be upfront and honest with them to say: a solid foundation, the manager is here, the trading model will come good and we’re so grateful for the fact their loyalty is never in doubt.”

Listen to our exclusive interview with Gilligan in full on Clement, transfers, catching Celtic, investment, King criticism, the CEO search and much more.