The audacity of Clement shows he’s either a good Rangers actor or something else after THAT claim – Hugh Keevins
Philippe Clement appears to be a good actor, at least based on his first media
briefing following the humiliation of losing to Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup.
Or otherwise a poor judge of character. During a press conference on Friday afternoon,
the Rangers manager said something that caused him to be regarded as the latter.
Clement had the nerve, or the gall, to assert that the result from last Sunday
didn’t represent the match against Queen’s Park, the initial lower-league team
to secure a Scottish Cup victory at Ibrox.
It is not just a failure to read the room. That indicates a failure to locate the room initially.
The manager was mirrored in the game, as he became more and more bewildered as
it progressed and tended to make dubious choices when the match was slipping
away from him. Clement’s reasoning, which implies that a miscarriage of justice
has genuinely occurred, only serves to further estrange a fan base that is already in flames.
Clement stated that he had arrived at a point where he wished
he could go onto the pitch and score a goal. The fans will wish the manager hadn’t
substituted Ianis Hagi, as he could have handled that situation and averted
a pivotal moment in Rangers’ history.
Today, the Belgian has placed pressure only on himself at Hearts while
he navigates what he has acknowledged to be the toughest days of his coaching career.
Last Sunday, it was upsetting to see a man requiring protective company
to exit Ibrox; this was not a good representation of fans who had lost their way,
but it did accurately gauge the level of anger among supporters.
Clement’s statements to the media suggest that he does not fully understand
the degree of opposition against him.
The media gathering on Friday was a missed opportunity for Clement
to express contrition over the extraordinary events that occurred during the cup tie.
A word famine, like the news blackout from the club right after
Rangers’ cup elimination, creates a frenzy for fans to hear what
the manager will say at his next public appearance.
Clement’s press conference could have generated enough revenue to cover
the costs of ending his long-term contract if the Rangers had broadcast it on
pay-per-view. The incident against Queen’s Park appears to worsen
the more you examine it in detail. I had overlooked the fact that,
in the round before facing Rangers at Ibrox, Montrose had pushed
the Spiders to extra time at home.
That’s the League One team that is battling to stay clear of
the relegation play-offs to the lowest division. In fact, Callum
Davidson’s team required an equaliser in the 91st minute just
to level the score at that point. It’s no surprise that Rangers’
social media platforms were silent.
Some believe that one should refrain from making any comments
that could exacerbate a situation already prone to combustion,
as such remarks can only do harm. However, it was Patrick Stewart,
the chief executive of Rangers, who stated at his first press conference that
“without an engaged supporter base,” no club could achieve success.
Since then, we have seen a walk-out by supporters in the 55th minute
during the league match against St Johnstone at Ibrox, protests outside
the stadium after the cup tie last weekend, and that unpleasant incident of
Clement receiving steward protection as he exited the venue that day.
As one Gers supporter succinctly stated on the radio the day after the cup defeat:
“What is the tipping point?” Before Rangers kick off against Hearts,
they are non-participatory observers regarding the rest of the domestic season.
All prizes have been awarded. In that situation, one might think
Clement had gone beyond the point of no return, but he has been
there often enough to navigate it even with his eyes closed.
Stewart stated that retaining the Belgian player at Ibrox was not
a tactic to evade making a difficult choice. He also mentioned that
changing the manager wasn’t a “silver bullet solution.”
However, all of his statements were made prior to the Queen’s Park match,
and now they have backfired on him. Stewart has played eight matches
at Rangers so far, with two losses included.
One of them was in the Europa League against Manchester United at
Old Trafford, which made sense. The other match was against
Queen’s Park at Ibrox, which was beyond comprehension.
Similar to many of the events at Ibrox.
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