Philippe Clement righting Rangers wrongs from years gone by as boss ditches 'merry dance' for straight talking style

Philippe Clement will buy himelf even more time if Rangers win the Viaplay Cup and beat Celtic next month.

That's according to Kevin Thomson, who has been impressed with Clement's straight talking that's accompanied an unbeaten start to his Ibrox reign. The Light Blues missed the chance to capitalise on their rivals' slip up against Motherwell on Saturday as they could only match their 1-1 draw at Pittodrie and needed a stoppage time James Tavernier penalty to escape with a share of the spoils.

Thomson is under no illusions about how hard it will still be to reel Celtic in. First of all, a positive result against Aberdeen in the Viaplay Cup final is a must. Do that, and follow it up with an Old Firm derby victory at Parkhead however, and Clement will have plenty of credit in the bank to set about really putting his stamp on the squad in January and chasing down the league leaders in the second half of the season.

Thomson told Safebettingsites.com: “Listen I still think Celtic are going to be a tough nut to crack, but the fact that there’s still three Old Firms to play and Rangers are only five points behind (should they win their game in hand against St Johnstone) gives them a chance. Bearing in mind Rangers have already sacked their manager. They need to win the cup, which would set them up well, but there’s other games within that period, and they need to win every one.

“I think the good thing that the new manager’s got in his favour is he has earned a bit of slack. It’s obviously Michael’s team. There was a big rebuild and they signed lots of players in the summer.

“I know things can turn quickly against managers, even when you’ve inherited someone else’s team but I think he’s started well enough and the fans have