Philippe Clement reacts to Graeme Souness’ shocking remark about Rangers job

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has reacted to a shocking revelation from Graeme Souness, who claimed he would have preferred Frank Lampard for the managerial role.

The former Chelsea and Everton boss was among those under consideration by the Rangers hierarchy and already held talks about assuming the previously vacant role.

However, he was subsequently ruled out of contention in the final stages of the search for a new boss before the Scottish giants appointed Clement.

The former AS Monaco tactician has enjoyed a strong start to life at Ibrox Stadium. But Souness, who managed Rangers between 1986 and 1991, claims Lampard would have been a more suitable candidate.

Souness is on the cusp of taking on a consultancy role at Rangers, but Clement insists he relishes the chance to work with the 70-year-old at Ibrox.

“There is nothing that concerns me – we had a good talk in the interview,” Clement said in his pre-match press conference.

“It was interesting for me to get more info about the club and to make a good decision, so if somebody is passionate about the club it’s between him and the board to decide, so we will see.”

On whether he is worried about Souness admitting he would have chosen Lampard as Rangers’ next boss, Clement added: “That’s a good lesson for me with everything that he said because you put it in a different perspective.

“So I’m not going into those talks or rumours or all those noise about things because I’m here to do a sporting job – I’m here to build the team, to make the team stronger.

“I’m not here to talk about rumours because that was not the real story of what he said, so I’m busy with the team.”

Clement announced himself to the Rangers faithful with a resounding 4-0 victory over Hibernian in his managerial debut, which preceded a goalless draw against Sparta Prague in the Europa League.

The Belgian will be eager for his side to return to winning ways when they welcome Hearts to Ibrox on Sunday afternoon.