Philippe Clement 'very confident' over Rangers board backing as he names 2 Europa League displays as benchmark

Under-fire Philippe Clement insists he hasn’t sought out the Rangers board for assurances on his Ibrox future.

But the struggling Gers gaffer is confident he still has the backing of his Light Blues bosses despite his team’s dismal start to the season. Wednesday’s Pittodrie loss to Aberdeen means Clement’s side have fallen a massive nine points off Jimmy Thelin’s Premiership pacesetters and joint leaders Celtic just 10 games in.

It’s a intolerable situation for a growing portion of the Ibrox support. But Record Sport revealed online that Gers chiefs had decide to stand firm in the face of fan outrage and back their manager for now. Sources close to the beleaguered Belgian told us: “Pressure from outside – media and fans – is very high but within the club, they’re staying calm.”

Clement broke cover for the first time since the damaging Dons defeat as he held his pre-match press conference ahead of Sundays Premier Sports Cup semi-final showdown against Motherwell. And he revealed there had been no showdown talks with the Ibrox hierarchy.

He said: I haven't had discussions about that the last couple of weeks, they've been really busy with a lot of other things in the club.” But asked if he felt interim chairman John Gilligan and his fellow directors still had faith in him as manager, Clement declared: “I'm very confident about that because that was also the really clear message, to step in a story for a longer term.

“They knew everything about the numbers, about what was necessary and what consequences it can have. It’s about small margins, like last season, taking those margins and making it better again.

“Last season we turned it around in a really short period, I'm convinced that can happen now also. But of course I wish