Philippe Clement to be ‘appointed’ by English club months on from Rangers sacking
Philippe Clement is about to take over an English club as he makes his return to management after nine months out following his sacking at Rangers.
Rangers’ board saw fit to sack Philippe Clement as their manager in February with the club well-behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race and out of the Scottish Cup.
He had been appointed as boss in October 2023 but failed to ever oust their arch-rivals from dominating in both league and cup competitions.
The 51-year-old was succeeded by Barry Ferguson in the interim, then the ill-fated Russell Martin in a permanent role, and Clement is now about to take over at a club close to the latter’s heart in the English Championship.
Clement is set to become the new Norwich manager
Clement has not been in a job since leaving Rangers, but that looks due to change imminently as he emerges as the favourite for the vacant spot in the Norwich City dugout.
Norwich sacked Liam Manning earlier this month after a run of seven defeats in eight games left them in the second-tier relegation zone.
Sky Sports reporter Anthony Joseph (Tuesday, 18 November) has reported, via X, that the Canaries are set to appoint the former Rangers boss as their new manager.
It is understood that the club’s chiefs hope to finalise an appointment on Tuesday, while the PinkUn have reported that Clement is expected to take charge immediately and will take be in the dugout for their upcoming clash against Birmingham City this weekend.
What Clement said after leaving Rangers
Clement shared an emotional message to Rangers fans after his sacking back in February, with many admitting that the club’s faults were the main reason he had to be let go.
He spoke candidly to BBC Sport in August about his time at Ibrox and admitted that he wanted more time to get things right as he said: “It’s a pity that the story stopped, that the board didn’t have the patience, or maybe listened too much to some fans.
“There are other clubs where there is a difficult moment and everybody sticks together because everybody knows the story, how the work is done inside the building, and they continue and they are successful afterwards.
“In three or four windows, we could have closed the gap [to Celtic] with a good development of players, but the decision is made and you need to accept it.”
Norwich have struggled to appoint a long-term manager in recent times with David Wagner, Johannes Hoff Thorup and Manning all unable to last too long, so Clement will aim to do better than they did and steer the club away from relegation initially.