Philippe Clement isn’t deluding anyone, he knows full well the size of the task at Rangers and his focus will now be on bringing in his own players.
There wasn’t much more that the manager could have done in the Scottish Cup final, but the quality on his bench was clearly and issue in the closing stages.
Despite having so many players out injured, Philippe Clement was still able to get Rangers into the position where they could be the better team, however, what players can he trust next season?
Philippe Clement has to know who he can trust for Rangers
Jack Butland, despite his howler, is clearly the standard that the Gers boss needs to be looking for throughout his team.
It’s not an extensive list of those who can match it.
The same, unfortunately, can’t be said of the rest of his leadership group.
John Lundstram is set to leave, Connor Goldson was dropped before he got injured and James Tavernier looks like a player who has aged years in the matter of months.
Every diagonal ball over his head is causing him problems now and there is an awareness that he has lost a yard of pace too.
In one-v-one situations, he has started to give wingers far too much space and it has cost his team.
Speaking after the defeat to Celtic, Philippe Clement was keen to emphasise just how bog a job he has on his hands this summer:
“It is a massive challenge because there is not much time. That is the reality.
“You have qualifying games for Champions League in August, you have five league game also so that is nine games in four weeks.
“You need to rebuild the squad. We have several players out of contract who will leave the building so you need to replace them without money coming inside.”
Who can Clement rely on next season?
On top of those leaving who are out of contract, Clement will be wanting to sell players who are deemed surplus to requirements or who simply can’t stay fit.
So, who can he rely on?
Ironically, the only centre-half who has been consistent this season is Leon Balogun and it would be a surprise if he doesn’t get a new contract now.
In defence, now that Jefte has been signed, there aren’t many players who Clement can be confident in.
Giving Dujon Sterling a chance in his preferred right-back position has to be considered given Tavernier’s recent form.
The midfield will see Lundstram and Ryan Jack depart with Jose Cifuentes away and hopefully doing enough for a permanent move with Kieran Dowell also on a big wage and not contributing much.
At Hampden, between Nicolas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande, it was the first competitive derby for some time where Rangers midfield had more control and nullified their opponents.
The biggest question is Todd Cantwell.
There just seems to be too much friction between the playmaker and the manager.
Danilo will be back and Cyriel Dessers has shown that he can be a solid squad member.
Academy players like Ross McCausland and Alex Lowry will be needed in and around the squad but, other than that, when you look at the players one by one, it really is a monumental task.
