PHILIPPE Clement has recalled how former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan and his wife Lesley became his babysitters during his time in England with Coventry City – as he vowed to become a father figure to his Rangers players.
Belgian centre half Clement only spent 12 months at Highfield Road and his first team appearances for the Sky Blues during the 1998/99 campaign were limited due to a series of injuries
.
However, the support which Strachan, the former Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Scotland midfielder who was in his first coaching role, gave him that season still left an indelible impression on the defender.
READ MORE: Rangers CEO James Bisgrove defends summer recruitment strategy
“I had a lot of problems at Coventry,” said Clement, who was appointed Rangers manager on Sunday and will take charge of his first game when Hibernian visit Ibrox tomorrow.
“The week before the season started I broke my cheekbone in a friendly game in Wales. I was out for three or four months. I came back and then this big fella Emile Heskey landed on my back and I had a back injury for a long time. I lost a lot of time there.
“But he (Strachan) was really nice with us. His wife also. My son at that moment was really small, I think he was around five years old. His wife really liked him. So in moments the gaffer said to me, ‘If you want to go out with your wife, go to the movies, your boy can stay with us’.
“So we did it a few times. He was our babysitter. They were really, really nice people. That support for my family at that time was really important for us. The experience was good for sure, as a player and also as a person.”
Clement returned to his homeland and signed for Club Brugge after playing in just 16 games for Coventry – but he has never forgotten the warmth which Strachan showed him in the West Midlands and he has endeavoured to be every bit as paternal to his players since moving into management himself six years go.
The former Beveren, Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco head coach knows that his new charges, who have been heavily criticised by media pundits and supporters in recent weeks after losing important games at home and abroad, need exactly the same sort of encouragement and understanding which he received now.
But the 49-year-old emphasised that he is not averse to disciplining his players, who are seven points behind defending champions Celtic in the league after just eight matches, if he believes that is required as well.
