Philippe Clement ‘very confident’ about Rangers board backing as he names two Europa League performances as a benchmark.

The under-fire boss insists he hasn’t asked the board for assurances about his future in Govan.

Under-fire Philippe Clement insists he has not sought assurances from the Rangers board about his future at Ibrox.

Despite his team’s poor start to the season, the struggling Gers manager is confident that he still has the support of his Light Blues bosses. With Wednesday’s Pittodrie loss to Aberdeen, Clement’s side has fallen nine points behind Jimmy Thelin’s Premiership pacesetters and joint leaders Celtic after just ten games.

It’s an intolerable situation for a growing number of Ibrox supporters. However, Record Sport revealed online that Gers chiefs had decided to stand firm in the face of fan outrage and support their manager for the time being. According to sources close to the beleaguered Belgian: “Pressure from outside – media and fans – is very high, but within the club, they’re staying calm.”

Clement broke his silence for the first time since the devastating Dons defeat, holding a pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Motherwell. And he revealed that there had been no showdown talks with the Ibrox hierarchy.

He stated, “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.” When asked if interim chairman John Gilligan and his fellow directors still believed in him as manager, Clement replied,  “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 it was at Aberdeen that we took the victory there, that would have been the big step forward. We didn’t manage that.

“We’re going to continue fighting to get results our way and to make things better. For sure more consistent, to get more football that we saw against Malmo, against Steaua Bucharest.

“I’m going to work really hard on that. I’m going to do the same as I did last season and the same as I’m doing now. I’ll do a little bit more in the club than at that moment because there are also a lot of other things to do. But no, for sure I’m very confident about that.

“I feel also how the team works, how they were in the meeting also today. It’s also not a team that don’t take responsibility. They took responsibility in things. The staff took responsibility, I take responsibility and we all go forward to make things better.

“I want to do that. I love this club. I knew what big challenge we would have.

“I could not say it out loud too much the last couple of months. There are still things more clear after this with [this week’s financial] numbers, so I can put a little bit more context in that way. And we’re going to work hard to make this happen really fast.”

With Gers still looking for senior executives to replace former CEO James Bisgrove and outgoing chairman John Bennett, Clement has previously admitted that he has been forced to take on additional responsibilities due to a power vacuum.

However, when questioned about the length of time it takes to complete the head-hunting process, he refused to raise the issue. He said, “I don’t want to talk about that now. I want to talk about the sportive side. That’s my job to do.

“There were other things to fill in or still needs to be filled in now. I’m giving my best to do everything, every moment that I’m awake for this club in that way.

“And I know that the people in the club, they’re working hard to solve all these questions that you talked about that before. There are other people to talk about that.”

Clement is expected to welcome back Vaclav Cerny for tomorrow’s trip to Hampden, but Ross McCausland is doubtful. Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo are back in training but are unlikely to play against Well.

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