5 days Ago By [email protected] (Mark Walker)
Philippe Clement has been installed as the favourite to become Belgium' s new boss after his former chief executive and mentor Vincent Mannaert was appointed Belgian FA sports director. Current gaffer Domenico Tedesco is under serious pressure after a 1-0 loss to Israel to round off their Nations League campaign, leaving the Red Devils with one win in six off the back of a dreadful Euro 2024 campaign. He is expected to get the chop and Rangers head coach Clement is the early favourite to take over given his strong links to Mannaert.
Mannaert was the head honcho at Club Brugge - who take on Celtic next in ths Champions League - for 13 years. They won six titles during that time and he and appointed Clement as the club's manager in 2019. And in April this year, he revealed how much he respects Clement.
He said: "Philippe and I have known each other for a very long time and since we were both playing, he was at the beginning of a fantastic career and me at the beginning of a less bright career! "We had great results in the Champions League at Club Brugge and had a draw with PSG - with Messi, with Neymar, with Mbappe - and we had a draw in the Bernabeu against Real Madrid. And we had great celebrations when we won the title. "He is a very hard-working person, he believes in hard work and preparation.
As a player, he was also a leader, he was a captain for many years at Brugge. You see that leadership coming back as a coach, he leads a group. "He prepares himself very well.
He is analytically very strong, he is able to get out the angle of the opponent and he combines that with emotional leadership." Clement has been named in the Belgian media as leading a five-man shortlist which includes Thierry Henry, Hein Vanhaezebrouck, Sergio Conceicao and Hervé Renard..
