Michael Stewart ‘absolutely astonished’ by Philippe Clement after Rangers win over Hearts
Michael Stewart was left “absolutely astonished” by Rangers boss Philippe Clement after his side’s dramatic late victory over Hearts.
A 90th minute penalty from James Tavernier and a 93rd-minute winner from Danilo took the points at Ibrox on 29 October after they strained to overcome Lawrence Shankland’s early opener, and former Jam Tarts man Stewart was aghast on BBC Sportsound by the Gers boss’ positivity after the final whistle.
Stewart said that without the second late penalty award for “lazy, poor defending” by Peter Haring the Light Blues would not have won, with the kick “nothing to do with what Rangers were doing in the game”, so couldn’t believe how pleased Clement was with what he had seen.
The pundit said (5.21pm): “I think the message is quite clear though, and I’ve got to be honest, I’m astonished. I’m absolutely astonished, because if Peter Haring doesn’t pull the jersey of Connor Goldson, lazy, poor defending, Rangers don’t win that game. In fact I don’t see them scoring.
“Goals change games, they change the perception of things massively, but I’m very surprise that Philippe Clement was so positive about Rangers’ performance there.
“They certainly didn’t look like a side that were knocking at the door. ‘Circumstances were against us’ he said. I’m surprised at that, I’m very surprised, because I thought Rangers were flat, I thought they were pretty poor, I thought they didn’t offer a great deal in the final third.
“They were too slow. All the things he was talking about I completely agree with in terms of the tempo’s got to be high, you’ve got to move the ball quickly, you’ve got to get your patterns of play in there, but I didn’t see it from Rangers.
“The tempo was too slow. Their patterns were incorrect, they weren’t getting to the by-line. The penalty was given, it was the right decision, but if that doesn’t happen then Rangers don’t win the game, and that being given has got nothing to do with what Rangers were doing in the game.”
Got out of jail
This early in his reign Clement clearly wants to focus on the positives, and between the 90th and 93rd he will have seen a lot.
Spurred on by the equaliser Rangers did suddenly spring into life and actually become threatening, with the winner duly arriving as a result.
In that sense he is perhaps right to praise the “mentality” to “never give up”, but for the duration of normal time they looked to have reverted to the worst of the Michael Beale era.
Cyriel Dessers had gone closest to scoring when his effort was cleared off the line by Lawrence Shankland in the first half, and a foul on Todd Cantwell had already handed Tavernier one opportunity to level the scores in added time before the break when he hit the post.
Had Rangers created various chances themselves after the interval then Clement’s praise would be entirely justified, but Stewart is probably right that Haring needlessly pulling Goldson’s shirt at a corner was the only way the hosts were going to equalise by that point.
So many of the Gers players had poor games before the final few minutes that it has to be a cause for concern, but at least on paper they got what they came for and narrowed the gap to Celtic down to five points.
However, whatever he says publicly, Clement will know that more showings like that likely won’t be escaped at the death.
In other Rangers news, Tom English has been left baffled by one Gers man who doesn’t look like a player at all.