For Phillippe Clement, there was an element of risk attached to holding a Q&A session with Rangers supporters at Edmiston House on Tuesday night.

Only a week previously, he had become embroiled in a heated exchange with angry fans who had confronted him after Rangers’ 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park.

Allowing fans an open floor to question the Rangers manager was a fairly bold move after that kind of result and, had the event gone wrong, it would only have fanned the flames.

Clement reaffirmed his belief that the scale of the rebuild required at Rangers is so vast that there is simply no prospect of a quick fix.

There is no magic wand, said the Belgian. He can’t simply snap his fingers and undo all of the poor decisions made in the transfer market prior to his arrival in October last year.

While working to turn things around as quickly as he can, Clement was asked how long it would take to have the sort of squad he wants.

‘I wish I had the answer to that and had this crystal ball,’ he replied. ‘I know a lot of fans and young ones like to play the PlayStation, Football Manager and all those things. But real life is totally different.

‘You cannot make any prediction about that because, first, it’s about the finances you have yourself. I don’t know that yet for January. It’s about finding the right players and convincing them to come.

‘It has to do with relationships with players and agents and with other clubs also, if they want to let them go or not. It’s impossible to predict that.

‘All I can say is we will do it as fast as possible, but you don’t have everything in your own hands in that way. You can only work really hard for that.’

If this *was* a game of Football Manager, Clement would probably be of a mind to quit and start all over again with a clean slate after what unfolded at Celtic Park.

To use his gaming analogy, he’s not even equipped with a PlayStation. Clement is stuck fumbling around with an old Atari joystick, whilst Celtic enjoy the latest next-gen offerings on the Xbox.

On Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours prior to Clement’s Q&A session, Celtic unveiled their club-record signing Arne Engels.

Signed for £11million from Bundesliga side Augsburg, he is already a fully-fledged Belgian international midfielder.

After working with Engels at Club Brugge a few years ago, it’s a calibre of signing that Clement can only dream of. Likewise the acquisition of Adam Idah for a fee of around £9m.

Asked whether he still feels Rangers can mount a title challenge this season, Clement insisted: ‘Yeah, I’m convinced about that, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.

‘Of course, it is a big rebuild – 16 players left. It was not also easy to have a good transfer window because seven players left for zero [money] and had to be replaced by players that cost money.

‘We are not a club with a big investor saying: “We spend £50m now and just go on to the market”. It’s not the case.

‘We – recruitment, board and myself – need to be inventive. We had to cut the wages also because it was not sustainable the way the wages were built the last couple of years in the squad.

‘There are a lot of challenges that way, but I’m very convinced that we bring in a few experienced guys who can do the job directly but also several young guys, some who can do the job already. They need to prove they can do it every three days now.

‘That’s the next step for them in their career. Some young guys also with a lot of potential. It’s the start of a new cycle and story.

‘I’m very convinced this team has more potential for the future than the team was six months ago in that moment. It’s about potential and our job is to get the potential out as fast as possible.’

When Clement is asked about these things, he generally appears to be honest and forthcoming in much of what he says. His quotes make for some nice soundbites.

But the time for soundbites is over. After the debacle at Celtic Park at the start of the month, he needs to show tangible, concrete evidence that he is the right man to lead Rangers forward.

He is almost a year in the job. Back in the summer, having signed a raft of new players, he insisted that this team would improve and show progress by around October of the new season.

At the Q&A, he stated that it may take more time – and insisted that he ‘hates’ the fact Celtic are so far ahead, both on and off the pitch.

‘Everybody is working really hard for that and they need to realise players coming into this club need time to adapt, there is nobody in the world can predict how they will react,’ he said.

‘You have some players – not only here but in all the world – who need three months, six months, and some after a week to adapt.

‘It’s a really personal thing, you can’t predict before. I’m very sure we brought in several really talented players who will grow and will become better the next couple of years.

‘I don’t like to take out individuals, but a young lad like Connor Barron who played in some of the games at Aberdeen, not all the games, he’s made already a big step forward and got his reward by being selected for Scotland.

‘Jefte is only 20 and already proving good things. It’s about working hard with the team and making them gel to create connections.

‘The other side of the town [Celtic] have been building their squad for more than one year and playing together. It’s normal that they are ahead now. I hate that and I want to change that as fast as possible.’

Currently five points behind Celtic and Aberdeen just four games into the Premiership season, Rangers will look to get their season back on track when they travel to Tannadice on Sunday to face Dundee United.

That already has the makings of an awkward affair. But with the transfer window now closed and the Old Firm game behind them, Rangers need to show tangible signs of progress over these next few months.

Clement can’t continue to chuck out a few soundbites and plead for patience.. He needs to show he can take this team forward. If he can’t do that, the game will be over.