Philippe Clement is no Rangers Harry Potter and Hibs spell danger under Nick Montgomery - Tam McManus

Nick Montgomery is the latest Hibs manager to offer a first test to a new man in charge of Rangers.

Gio van Bronckhorst suffered in the stand when my old team clattered him out of the League Cup in the Hampden semi-final. Michael Beale got a major scare as Hibs led at Ibrox and came close to ruining his first Rangers game. Now it’s Philippe Clement and Montgomery I’m sure will be relishing the chance to ruin the Ibrox boss’ big day.

Generally I feel it’s a bad time to get an opposition when they appoint a new boss. Players tend to get a lift, it’s a clean slate and, from a Hibs point of view, I was hoping the new one would not have arrived prior to this game. It would probably have been better had it still been a caretaker manager with a bit of confusion still around Ibrox.

I’m sure Montgomery and the fans would have preferred the same. I’ve been in that position as a player and you go into that first game bursting to show the new manager you should be part of the team going forward.

But Clement isn’t Harry Potter. He’s not got a magic wand. This is a Rangers team dismissed by Aberdeen in their last home game then lost to a bang-average team from Cyprus in the Europa League.

Yes they got a good result in the last match before the break when defeating St Mirren but there are still big question marks against this Rangers team and those players who were taken into the club by Beale. Montgomery hasn’t been in post that long himself and results would suggest his players are still getting their own bounce from his arrival.

Clement has a strong track record and a good CV but he might need some time and Hibs have to sniff any vulnerability or uncertainty. If I’m a Hibs player I’m not seeing a top-drawer team across the tunnel.

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