CLEMENT PREFERS TO FOCUS ON POSITIVES... AND THERE ARE MANY
FOR as much as Philippe Clement has complained about Dundee, Dens Park and that neverending pitch fiasco, the Rangers manager doesn’t mind admitting that there is a lot to love about Scottish football.
As the row rumbles on over the second postponement of Rangers’ Premiership match on Tayside, Clement can still appreciate that there is something special about the game in these parts, however eccentric it sometimes seems.
Another step in what has become a compelling chase for the championship, the closest since season 2010-11, will be taken in Dingwall today when Rangers play relegationthreatened Ross County. Their lunchtime kick-off in the Highlands comes seven days after a thrilling 3-3 draw with Celtic at Ibrox.
Some 1.44million people watched that epic, gloriously bonkers derby on TV, which suggests that the Scottish game, for all its faults, must be doing something right. Clement is
proud to have played a part in a match that attracted record viewing figures for the SPFL.
‘I’m pleased for the club as those are important things,’ he said. ‘Also for the players and the country that a lot of people want to see that game. And it was a good game in intensity and excitement and will.
‘It’s a positive thing. Nobody who watched that game was afterwards drinking something and saying to his wife: “That was a boring afternoon”.
‘So that’s only a good thing for Scottish football. Teams are challenging each other in a good way. Everybody loves that. Everybody in Scotland is happy that there’s a title race now, as it was quite a while ago that was the case. The more teams who will be in the title race, the more interesting it gets.’
In truth, it is — and always will be — a two-horse race, but the rest play their part in other ways. All contribute to the peculiar theatre of Scottish football, a soap opera that in the last week has crammed in the Ibrox fallout, Aberdeen’s scathing statement about VAR and an almighty stushie over the sandpit on Sandeman Street.
Rarely has a tiny patch of grass attracted so much adverse publicity. Dundee’s continued failure to maintain their playing surface has somehow contrived to upset everyone from Rangers and Motherwell to Hibs and the SPFL, who faced a post-split fixtures headache and questions about sporting integrity.
And the reason is that people care. If they were not up in arms about every cock-up, if there was not a national inquest into every perceived injustice, Scottish football would not have its unique selling point, namely the passion and loyalty of its fans.
That is what has struck Clement most since he was appointed by Rangers almost exactly six months ago. In that time, the Belgian has come to believe that Scottish football is much better than many of us care to admit.
‘I love Scottish football, really. I love to be here,’ he said. ‘In moments, Scottish people speak too negatively about Scottish football and the things around it. It is the same as English people do, French people do, other people do — everyone thinks they don’t do it good and the sun shines somewhere else. That’s not the case.
‘There are a lot of positive things here. One is the passion of the people for football, the passion of the fans for football, the passion of the managers, the passion of the players. It’s great to see. I have a really positive impression of Scottish football… but we need in the future to play it on good surfaces.’
Celtic are top of the table, but their city rivals have two games in hand, the first of which is against a team fighting for their Premiership lives. Rangers have not lost any of their 24 matches against Ross County. Only once have they dropped points in the clubs’ last 18 meetings. The absence of Mohamed Diomande (fractured finger) is a blow for Clement, but he will expect to get the job done, especially if Abdallah Sima, Todd Cantwell or Rabbi Matondo can do from the start what they did as substitutes last Sunday.
Then it will be on to Dundee, in theory at least. If the venue for Wednesday’s game fails an inspection on Tuesday, the third attempt to get it played is likely to be made elsewhere, potentially behind closed doors. Easter Road and McDiarmid Park are among the stadia being discussed as possible alternatives.
Clement says it is the fans he feels for at times like these, especially those emotional ones who make the game what it is. He spoke during the week about the young lad he found crying at Rangers’ team hotel because the match had been called off for a second time. The boy’s father later denied that there had been any tears, but you get the point.
Clement is also angry with Eric Drysdale, the Dundee secretary, who appeared to blame ‘climate change’ — at least in part — for the club’s waterlogged pitch, which has had five postponements between October and April this season. No sooner had the comments been made than images on social media showed nearby Tannadice in perfect condition, gleaming like Hampden in the sun.
‘It hurts me when I see a small boy cry,’ said Clement. ‘Then I get frustrated when I see people talk about climate change. Yet, in the same street, there’s a nice, green pitch. It’s showing no respect to these fans when you say things like that. That annoyed me. It’s showing a lack of respect for people.
‘There are so many fans travelling from all over Britain to see the game. A lot of people are spending their last penny on football because it’s their life. I know that because I’ve seen it at other clubs, and with Rangers it’s definitely the case. That’s why I say we’ll play anywhere. It’s for the fans.’
I really love Scottish football... there is so much passion