It is nonsense to say we are weak and I’ll defend that opinion with my life
CLINT HILL has fiercely defended his Rangers team-mates against accusations of a weak mentality. The Ibrox side approach tonight’s meeting with st Johnstone on the back of a bleak run of one win in seven Premiership outings.
Last Friday night’s 2-1 loss in Inverness saw Rangers fail to score when on top early on, before missing out on even a point as Billy Mckay hit an 89th-minute winner for the hosts.
Rangers fans have pointed towards their team’s lack of fortitude this season, although veterans Hill and Kenny Miller are often held up as two players exempt from that criticism.
However, the 38-year-old central defender bristled at the suggestion some within the dressing room were mentally fragile during matches.
‘I’m not going to answer anything like that. I’m not going to dig out my players, who stand next to me on a saturday,’ insisted Hill, fit again after missing Inverness through injury.
‘you won’t get that from me. Not one bit. I’m with them and they’re with me. so I won’t have any of that nonsense said about them.
‘In fact, I’d defend that accusation with my life. It’s nonsense.
‘No one goes out there to do badly or make mistakes. We’re human beings who try and do well and I back the lads 100 per cent.’
Hill, instead, sought a different explanation for the toils which have left Rangers lagging behind aberdeen in the contest for second place despite the Dons’ surprise loss to Hamilton last night.
‘The higher you go in football, the margins are finer. It’s as simple as that,’ he said.
‘If you make half an error, you get punished for it. If you don’t take a chance that you normally would, then you get punished at the other end.
‘That’s what’s hurting us at the moment. It’s a big game against st Johnstone and we need to turn it around quickly.’
Third place would still guarantee entry to the Europa League’s first qualifying round, just the same as the William Hill scottish Cup winners and league runners-up.
and Hill claims the exit of manager Mark Warburton, on top of the challenges in building the club up since 2012, means that would constitute success.
‘With the current situation the club is in, and the situation it has been in for the last five years, then I think that it would be, yes, unfortunately,’ said Hill.
‘This club is built on success and winning things and, in any other circumstance, being third is not a success.
‘But at the moment, where the club is, I think that getting a European spot would be counted as a success.
‘Unfortunately, we have let aberdeen slip away from us a little bit. It’s still not over by any means. We still have to play them twice.
‘But European qualification was one of the main aims and objectives this season.’
Hill remains determined to do what he can to push Rangers towards a brighter future. Even if he might not be at the club to see it.
Like Miller, he is out of contract at the end of the season and has no idea if he will be retained. With the hunt for a new manager and director of football ongoing, Hill recognises where the current priorities lie.
‘I’d love to (stay), but personal agendas are put to the side,’ he insisted. ‘The club has to appoint the certain people it wants to appoint and then we’ll see what happens.
‘For the last six or seven years, it has been this way for me. I’ve only had year-long contracts.
‘sometimes, it has gone through to a couple of weeks before pre-season starts and then something might get sorted out.
‘It’s not something I am looking to get sorted any time soon. I don’t even know if there is a contract there. all I have seen is rumours.
‘There has been no contact or anything like that.
‘Do I still find it easy to help the club? That’s your job. you are a professional footballer and you have to give everything you can.’
Hill’s experience and leadership qualities could be even more vital for Rangers in their current position. Graeme Murty has been given the unenviable task of stepping up from the Under-20s to take caretaker charge since Warburton’s departure.
‘I just went to Graeme and said: “Listen, we are here for you. anything you need, just let us know”,’ said Hill.
‘We want him to do well. I played against Graeme and I know what kind of character and person he is. There is no one working harder at the moment to try to rectify the issues.
‘Do I feel some sympathy for him? yeah, because he is a good guy. ‘He will want to do well. Obviously, it’s hard being sprung into that environment, but he has acquitted himself very well. He has gone up in my estimation as well, as a man.’