That in itself may have been costly and not helped Clemente’s cause.
It is clear that some of those who remain and have managed the club over the last few years have already passed their sell-by date, in the opinion of some fans.
In addition to Stewart, Rangers have a new president in Fraser Thornton. Both men will play an important role in the review and renewal of the club’s operation.
However, they will need time and, in Glasgow, that is a limited commodity, especially when results are so inconsistent.
“I have spent six, seven months sometimes feeling alone in the desert and addressing things to improve the club,” explained Clement in reference to the lack of the executive director.
“That will help me, it will help the football department, but it will help everything within the club. So I’m happy that we can have really open and sometimes critical discussions about it.
“We want consistency, I want consistency, and the fans want consistency to get better results. We have consistency in home games, we have consistency in our European season, but we didn’t have consistency away from home. So those are things to work on.”
There seems to be a lot to work on. At the national level, the title challenge has disintegrated. In the Europa League, Rangers are well placed, but that will not satisfy some.
Stewart indicated that the Rangers will recruit only one or two in this transfer window. With limited resources, it will be a challenge to make that have a significant impact.
Clement’s change of fortune seems to depend on him exhausting every last ounce of the squad at hand, with little room for error.
Otherwise, vocal critics are likely to increase their demands for change, and that may lead to exactly what Clement doesn’t want: an even more fractured fan base.
