Philippe Clement calls for united Rangers support after fans walk out

Rangers boss Philippe Clement expressed his wish for a united support after the fans were divided during his team’s 3-1 win over St Johnstone at Ibrox.

In the wake of the team’s draw at Dundee on Thursday, the Rangers Supporters Association had called for Clement to be sacked while ultras-style group the Union Bears responded to the Ibrox board’s backing for the manager by calling for a mass walk-out during Sunday’s Premiership match.

While the Union Bears went ahead with their plans, leaving the stadium in the 55th minute, others in the stadium booed the group as they walked out.

Asked about the divide, and the muted atmosphere in the ground, Clement called on everyone to come together and get behind the team.

“I want everybody to be united,” the manager said. “Simple.

“You can see it as a positive that still a lot of people are behind everything.

“But I want to have everybody united. So, that’s what I wanted last year when I came in, and it was also totally not the case at that moment.

“But it has to do with performance, and that’s normal. We want consistency, I want consistency, and fans want consistency to get better results. We have the consistency in the home games.

“We have now 31 points out of 33, I think. We have consistency in our European season, but we didn’t have consistency away at home. So, those are things to work on with all the squads.”

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 12: Union Bears stage a walkout on the 55th minute during a William Hill Premiership match between Rangers and St Johnstone at Ibrox Stadium, on January 12, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group) — GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JANUARY 12: Union Bears stage a walkout on the 55th minute during a William Hill Premiership match between Rangers and St Johnstone at Ibrox Stadium, on January 12, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group) SNS Group

Clement said he had been happy with the first half performance from his team, as they raced into a 3-0 lead with goals from Hamza Igamane, Vaclav Cerny and Mohamed Diomande, but saw the levels drop off in the second half.

And the Belgian shrugged questions about the importance of Patrick Stewart backing him publicly. He said he had always been sure of the support of the club’s hierarchy and was pleased that the newly-appointed chief executive was beginning a review of the club’s football operations.

“I know that, and I have already spoken with Patrick a lot,” Clement said. “He’s not long in the building, but I’m very happy that he’s here.

“I’ve been six, seven months sometimes feeling alone in the desert and addressing things to make better in the club.

“That will help me, that will help the football department, but it will help everything inside the club. So I’m happy that we can have really open and sometimes critical discussions about it.”