‘I have a good feeling that I will see the REAL face of my team again’
Clement knows there are always pitfalls on the long road to glory
AFTER hitting a fairly sizeable speedbump in the Highlands on Sunday, Philippe Clement has been quick to remind his Rangers players that the road to success was never going to be entirely straightforward.
For the first time in his sixmonth tenure, the Belgian has had to deal with some fierce criticism in recent days after what he admitted was the Ibrox club’s poorest performance since he took charge last October.
The 3-2 defeat to Ross County in Dingwall wasn’t fatal in terms of their title ambitions. Heading into tonight’s perennially rearranged match with Dundee, Rangers know that victory in their last six league games will see them win the title.
The difference, however, is that Clement’s side essentially now have no margin for error in their pursuit of Celtic after spilling three points against a County side who sit second from bottom in the Premiership.
Clement revealed that there were a few frank conversations in the big debrief. Plainly, the Ibrox manager expects a response tonight at Dens Park.
But Clement opened up on the idea of giving his players some tough love. It’s something he has seen from the master himself, Pep
Guardiola, in the new Manchester City documentary on Netflix. Titled Together: Treble Winners, the series follows the story of Guardiola’s side in what proved to be one of the best seasons in the history of British football as they swept all before them last year. By winning the English Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League, City matched Sir Alex Ferguson’s legendary Manchester United side who did the same in 1999. But that’s not to say there weren’t hiccups along the way. As they seek to bounce back from last weekend, Clement is keen for his players to learn that the path to success is never totally linear. ‘It is the first time in six months that I see my team like that,’ he explained. ‘I was disappointed, but I think every manager has these moments, even with teams that win amazing things. ‘I have been watching the series about the Treble of Man City of last year and saw quite a few of those moments. ‘It doesn’t mean that I want to see it back on Wednesday but it is part of the game. It is not something that you want, not the players, not the manager, not the fans, nobody.
‘But the most important thing is how you react after that. I have a good feeling that I will see the real face of my team again.
‘I learn from everything. Every experience I have, and everything I see, I want to learn from. I like to watch other sports to see things I can use in football.
‘And the most interesting thing from that documentary was the great season when they won the Treble, you see they had up and down moments.
‘They lost to teams — with all respect — like Southampton and Brentford. They got angry with themselves as top players being disappointed with themselves.
‘They then picked up again. Therefore, you also see the down sides and that’s one of the things that’s part of this job and part of this life. It’s never only up.
‘In the end, people only remember the good things after titles. But I’ve been on that road so many times. I have already won titles but I can remember the difficult moments also.
‘So you need to react in a good way if things go against you. This team has gone behind in several games, but we have come back with some spectacular comebacks.
‘That’s with the right mentality so that’s what they need to show against Dundee.’
Having taken just four points from the last 12 available in the league, Rangers seem to be wobbling at the worst possible moment.
They haven’t kept a clean sheet in the Premiership in almost two months, shipping six goals in their last two games against Celtic and Ross County.
They do still boast the best defensive record in the league, but a previously impenetrable backline has suddenly started looking rather porous.
Yet Clement is adamant that heads won’t go down. He is confident that this mini-slump won’t affect the belief among his squad.
Asked if this run has affected belief, he said: ‘I don’t think so. If that is the case, then you are not at your place at Rangers.
‘If you lose your belief with one bad performance or losing points, then you are not ready for that and to fight for trophies, to fight for titles.
‘It is just part of the journey. There is not one team in the world who wins titles by every game being the best.’
Clement will be without midfielder Mohamed Diomande once again this evening as he continues to recover from surgery on a thumb injury.
Rangers are hopeful that Diomande could be back in time to face Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday, but Ridvan Yilmaz is not ready to return at left-back just yet.