‘I told them I never work that way’ – Philippe Clement and Rangers Board in heated disagreement

‘I told them I never work that way’ – Philippe Clement and Rangers Board in heated disagreement

Philippe Clement stated that Rangers officials had urged he focus domestic football over European ambitions as the Belgian manager prepared for the Europa League match against Benfica.

The Ibrox squad traveled in Lisbon for the opening leg of their last-16 clash on Thursday, amidst a hectic fixture schedule. Clement replaced Michael Beale in October and had to win Real Betis in their final Europa League group game in Spain in December before facing Aberdeen in the Viaplay Cup final at Hampden Park. The Gers defeated Real Betis 3-2 to go to the Europa League knockout stages, then they overcame the Dons 1-0 to win their first trophy of the season.

Rangers are two points ahead of Celtic at the top of the Premiership, with a Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hibernian to play on Sunday, but Clement maintains European football isn’t a distraction.

He said, “No.” I mentioned in December, when there were some individuals on the board before our European game, that winning the League Cup might be more significant. No (surprise), it was done with good intentions. The desire to win another trophy was so strong in the club that everyone wanted to emphasize it.

“But after our night in Spain, they were quite thrilled, and winning the League Cup made them more happier. I told them that I never worked that way. I’m looking for guys who are hungry for success on every occasion.

“It does not operate that way. It is not the same as picking up a menu at a restaurant. This is not how you establish a winning culture.

“So, yes, it’s a busy schedule. But it’s about us working extremely hard with the players and the staff to get them ready, as well as the players demonstrating that they’re ready for that level of competition. We are going to be full for this game, full during the weekend, and full till  the end of the season.”

Clement is dealing with an injury issue, with wingers Abdallah Sima, Rabbi Matondo, Scott Wright, and Oscar Cortes out – though the latter is not in Rangers’ European squad – and Ross McCausland doubtful after being brought out with a knock in Motherwell’s 2-1 defeat at the weekend.

However, the former Monaco manager believes that he will not be “parking the bus”.

“We are missing four wingers tomorrow,” he told reporters. “Ross may also be involved; we will see. He did the warm-up today but did not practice with the team; instead, he conducted individual training. We’ll see tomorrow if he’s available to play a few minutes.

“The last four wingers are out. I have five wingers, and perhaps five of them will be out. That is a dreadful situation. We are missing two playmakers, Kieran Dowell and Todd Cantwell, and one striker, Danilo. So there is a lot of attacking quality that we will miss tomorrow. It is about discovering alternative solutions.

“It’s a challenge, and as a coach, you need to decide whether to remain with the same system or to alter. I had to discuss this with my staff. What to do in this position, particularly against an opponent like Benfica. How to Play.

“I don’t believe in parking the bus and merely defending; I’ve never done so. We always attacked to win games, whether it was with weaker teams in Madrid or Paris versus PSG, or in Leipzig with Club Brugge.

“I don’t believe that if you have a culture of that, and I work hard every day to generate opportunities to score goals, you can do the reverse in one game. When you score a goal against your team, you kill their brains.

“So we’ll always fight to create opportunities, just like we did in Spain when we defended effectively and attacked too. So it will be the same here. We need to defend really well show a lot of qualities that way.”

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