Philippe Clement sat in the Blue Room in October and detailed his ‘four pillars’ vision for Rangers. On the day he signed a new contract at Ibrox, he expressed his confidence that the most fragile one is now being built on stronger foundations.

The Belgian vowed to produce the best tactical, technical, mental and physical side in Scotland when he was appointed as manager. In the months that followed, his endeavours were undermined as a result of what he inherited. Over the course of recent weeks, Clement has sought to address several issues at once in an attempt to turn Rangers from challengers into champions in the space of a single summer.

READ MORE: Check all the Rangers transfer news & rumours before the transfer window

His interviews during the close season have been dominated by transfer talk. A handful of players have departed and several have arrived but more work must be done in and out before this group can be considered good enough to take the fight to Celtic in the Premiership. 

If that is to materialise, then the issue that was talked about more often than any other in the second half of the campaign must be rectified. Week after week, game after game, Clement spoke about injuries and fitness as his squad was decimated through bad luck or poor conditioning. At times, he was in a title fight with one hand tied behind his back.

As he held his first press conference of the new campaign ahead of the trip to face Hearts, the topic of availability naturally came up once again. There will be no place for Dujon Sterling at Tynecastle, while summer signing Hamza Igamane is not yet up to speed physically following his arrival at Ibrox. That selection situation is night and day compared to the times when dark clouds hung over Clement’s walking wounded.

Clement insisted that the fitness of his group cannot be prioritised ahead of all other aspects in the search for the gains required. If Rangers are to be successful this season, he needs each of those pillars to hold its own weight in its own right. Like the work in the transfer market, Clement’s endeavours behind the scenes will be judged by what happens on the pitch.

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“We have done a lot,” Clement said when asked what he had put in place to change the injury situation this summer. “It is maybe some interesting thing for next time, I can show you things. I have some numbers in my head. We did 15 per cent more distance in the training than the year before, we did 71 per cent more sprint distance in the pre-season, we did 70 per cent more high-intensity runs, we did much more prevention work with the players.

“We saw already less injuries this pre-season. We had several players who in the last couple of years never made a full pre-season who did it now. Does it mean it is a guarantee we won’t have injuries? No, because that is not the situation, you cannot change the human body in five, six weeks. We made them stronger already, several of them, but there is still a way to go.

“I told the team that also this week, this is not the end of the pre-season. It is going to last at least two, three months more but we need to combine it with the games and to make good choices around that to also win games because that stays the most important. Working in that way, also getting new people in – performance staff, medical staff – that will help also. It is adding all these things together to make a better total product.”

Time will tell what it all adds up to at Ibrox. Clement and John Bennett, the Ibrox chairman, have spoken about the longer-term requirements when it comes to plans and philosophies but the first whistle of the season will see old demands and expectations come to the fore amongst a support that want silverware as soon as possible.

Clement professed his love for the club, the city and the support as he detailed the process that resulted in him signing on for the second time at Ibrox. He referenced the alignment between him and the hierarchy, between the dressing room and the boardroom. He is, he believes, in the right place at the right moment.

“Yes,” Clement said when asked if he will be given the time required even if things become difficult. “That was also the reason of the contract, to do it from both sides. It was not to get much more wages or something. That was not the idea. We were really fast agreed about that, from both sides. There is more clarity, it is more secure to work for the longer term and that is also what a club needs, that is also what this club needs.

“It is what has been done in the past in other clubs. The most successful clubs in the world are the ones where the manager has five, six, seven, eight years, because there is consistency. If you are every year or every six months starts with a new story then it becomes difficult after a while because what is the story in the end? The good thing is that I feel here that we are aligned about a lot of things and the club felt the same in these talks. So what is the reason not to go for a longer story together then?”

This is now a squad that is being built in Clement’s name and a football department that is being shaped in his image. The news on Friday morning that he had agreed a new contract until 2028 was confirmation of his belief in the project and further proof of the board’s confidence that he is the right man to lead it. Once again, the results will speak for themselves in that regard.

Clement has been given the power to overhaul Rangers on the park and behind the scenes. Changes have been made in the medical and performance sectors but the most public alteration is the appointment of Andries Ulderink to the first team staff. He has joined Alex Rae, Brian Gilmour and assistant Stephan van der Heyden as Clement’s support network.

“Last season I always worked really good with the staff,” Clement said. “They are working really good and I am really happy with Alex, with Brian, with Stef, how they are doing their role. I did a lot myself on the pitch, in the trainings, in the preparation also and because of that I missed some time to be all over the building and to be everywhere where I need to be in moments, and for sure in a rebuild.

“In that way Andries strengthens the squad and he can take over some responsibility, same as Stef and Brian and Alex are doing and I can delegate a few things more. I can be busy with other things in that moment – recruitment, medical, prevention, the academy. I am not all the time in my office but I can be more around the building and have a better view of things.”