Rangers supporters know all too well the importance of doing your talking on the pitch. It was crucial, though, that Philippe Clement's words spoke volumes as he addressed the media for the first time as manager on Tuesday afternoon.

He is the third boss to be unveiled in the Blue Room in the last two seasons. If Rangers are setting up the tables and the cameras again any time soon, Clement will have failed and the Ibrox board will find themselves in even more of a predicament than they are at present. The appointment of Clement must be the cure to Rangers’ problems a fortnight after the sacking of Michael Beale brought another unsuccessful tenure to a premature conclusion.

The Belgian cut a cool, calm and composed character as he laid out his reasons for moving to Ibrox and the processes that he hopes will deliver success as soon as possible. Come Saturday and the visit of Hibernian, he will face the Ibrox crowd for the first time and will have very different questions to answer.

The four pillars of his philosophy

The target for today and for tomorrow is to win. That is what Clement has built his life and his career around and what he must now do at Ibrox.

That will, of course, be easier said than done, especially with a group of players that have underperformed this season and underachieved for many more. Clement spoke about the alignment from the top down at Rangers and the potential that is within the squad that he has inherited before he outlined what he will expect from his players.

“For me there are four very important pillars in the way I want to see a team,” Clement said. “I want to create here in the club the best technical team, the best tactical team, the best physical team, and the best mental team of the league.

READ MORE: Every word of Philippe Clement's first Rangers press conference

“That’s what I want to create, that’s my ambition. I know if you do that then results will follow but I know it is a lot of work.”

Clement has arrived at Ibrox fully prepared and up to speed. He has spent recent days watching all of the matches that have been played this term and is fully aware of the good, the bad and the ugly. As he acknowledged, if there had been more items in the ‘good’ list then he would not have been sitting behind the table.

Clement took his first training session at Auchenhowie on Tuesday morning. In the coming days, the international players will return and the side that will start against Hibernian will take shape.

More new faces to come

Clement will have to work with what he has for now in terms of the playing squad as he prepares a strategy for the January transfer window. He will, though, add to his staff sooner rather than later.

Stephan Van Der Heyden joined Clement on the flight into Glasgow on Sunday and will be part of the backroom team, while Colin Stewart has been retained to oversee the goalkeepers. The Rangers Review revealed that Thomas Buffel, who Clement sought advice from during the interview process, will not be joining his compatriot as Rangers look to recruit a coach with a knowledge of the game here and an affinity with the club.

One man who ticks both of those boxes is Steven Davis. His spell as interim manager lasted just two matches as the defeat to Aris Limassol was followed by the win over St Mirren. Davis could yet find himself involved going forward.

“He is someone who has always been a leader by example, and he is taking his first steps into coaching life,” Clement said. “I have also been in that situation many years ago and it is important to give people like that with the knowledge of the game, with the connection to the club, to give them chances and we will see over the next weeks and months what is the best role for him to start this new adventure.”

Clement has arrived in Glasgow with an impressive curriculum vitae as a manager but that does not guarantee that he will be a success in Scotland. Having a right hand man that can offer insight into the unique world of Scottish football and the Old Firm goldfish bowl would certainly stand the 49-year-old in good stead going forward.

How to build a winning team

Clement offered an insight into his philosophy by insisting he wants to play ‘dominant football’ and he referenced his time in charge of relegation-threatened SK Beveren as proof of his principles. The ambition is to play attacking football but with a structure that avoids the concession of ‘stupid goals’. Time will tell if the Clement blueprint is conducive to winning football at Ibrox.

“We speak about players moving together,” Clement said. “We speak about offensive football, you need to automatise that, you need a lot of training around that before it becomes natural for the players. Sometimes it comes fast, sometimes it takes a little more time at all the teams I have been on. In the end, everywhere, there were the results, the good games. I know it will come.”

In time, Clement will have the chance to build a team and a squad rather than just mould a side. He insisted he is not a manager that wants ‘10 new players every year’ and he will give those in the building the chance to prove themselves first and foremost.

He will be part of the process to appoint a sporting director in the foreseeable future. That will give him a sounding board in terms of recruitment, an area where there is plenty of room for improvement from a club perspective.

“It is important to be aligned with the sporting director and have the same ideas about football,” Clement said. “If it is someone who has totally different ideas about football then it does not work.”

Making a key call on the captain

So much has been said and written about the players that Beale recruited this summer and the value for money that Rangers are seeing on a significant outlay. The full ramifications of those recruitment decisions have still to be fully played out this season.

The new arrivals are not the only issue right now, though. Questions have been raised about the stalwarts within the squad and what, if any, big decisions that Clement could look to make.

The position of James Tavernier as captain is not one that will be on the table. The right-back has outlived a succession of managers but the latest one will do what Steven Gerrard, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale did and hand him the armband this weekend.

“I do not see a reason to change that,” Clement said. “I need to focus on many other things at the moment and step by step need to look at what is best for the club, but I do not see a reason for the moment to change that.”

Tavernier will be one of the first names on the team sheet against Hibernian. Some of the others naturally pick themselves but it is fair to say that there are places up for grabs, especially as a handful of the walking wounded get ready to return to action, and Clement also addressed his willingness to give players from the academy a pathway at Ibrox.

“Whether you're Belgian, Scottish, British, 32 or 18, everybody starts the same,” Clement said. “Then we'll see who is in the best shape. We need a big squad where everyone is ready.”

Overcoming Old Firm adversity

Clement used the analogy of the Premiership being like a marathon and not a sprint. He has walked into a difficult situation in domestic terms, but the focus is on finding the gains to improve Rangers rather than paying too much attention to the fortunes of Celtic.

The target for Clement in the coming weeks is straightforward. Every league fixture between now and the next derby at Parkhead must be won to ensure his side are no worse off than they are at present by the time they travel across the city.

READ MORE: Bisgrove on Clement qualities, Souness influence and Rangers DOF hunt

If that is the case, and if Celtic can be beaten in the final match of the year, then the league table takes on a very different complexion heading into 2024.

“It is not about the next two, three games, it is about a lot of games this season in a lot of competitions,” Clement said. “We need to look at all those things, we need to focus on ourselves, not on other teams and to make our story better and better and better through the season. Then you get results in the end. Always.”

Clement has three league titles from his time in Belgium and that track record played a key part in him emerging as the outstanding candidate in the managerial race. He is sure he will get the time he needs. Like the 18 men who have gone before him, that fate will be determined by performances, results and silverware.