Stephen McGowan rips into Philippe Clement after what he did at Rangers this week
Stephen McGowan has labelled Philippe Clement a “killjoy” after his reactions to a near-perfect week for Rangers in all competitions.
Writing in his Scottish Daily Mail column [11 November, page 102], the journalist shared the warnings given out by the Belgian despite two big wins for his side.
Rangers started the week with a massive win over Hearts at Hampden Park to book a place in the Viaplay Cup final, following it up with another statement win in the Europa League against Sparta Prague.
Calling Clement a killjoy in his headline, McGowan wrote: “Philippe Clement clearly isn’t the type to get carried away by a couple of decent wins.
“Last weekend Rangers thumped Hearts to secure a place in the Viaplay Cup final and he warned the player they had won nothing yet.
“In midweek they threatened to blow Sparta Prague away with a high-tempo first-half display which left them on the cusp of the Europa League knockout round. And he ordered them to start producing that performance for a full 90 minutes.”
He went on to finish: “He must be an absolute blast at Christmas parties.”
Stern.
This is what Rangers have been missing for far too many years now.
Clement is bringing that expectation that his squad can always be better, something that Michael Beale and Giovanni van Bronckhorst may have lacked when they spoke to the media.
The Belgian will not give too much away and is happy to keep secrets from the public, but his message always remains the same – his squad can do more.
Deep down inside, Clement will be thrilled with his start, unbeaten in all competitions, a final to come and the knockout stages calling his name in the Europa League.
It’s easy to forget that Rangers lost to Aris Limassol only days before he was appointed to make progression potentially a tough task for his side.
Clement will not care what others think of him, he is focused on delivering the goods and that is exactly what he is doing at Ibrox right now.
In other Rangers news, a BBC pundit has claimed that a Gers first-team player will jump at the chance to leave Ibrox as a transfer story has emerged recently.