Philippe Clement driven ‘crazy’ by Jose Cifuentes in Rangers win at Hearts as Sky Sports men react live – ‘If looks could kill’
Jose Cifuentes will have infuriated Philippe Clement by not being ready to come on for Rangers in the first half at Hearts, according to Kenny Miller.
The Sky Sports pundit reacted live on the match commentary on 6 December as Tom Lawrence limped off with yet another injury issue in just the 17th minute, only for his replacement to take the best part of two minutes to be in position to come on in his place, and Miller claimed it would drive the manager “crazy”.
And commentator Ian Crocker suggested the Gers boss had given the Ecuador international a look that could “kill” as he stood and waited for him to get match-ready in the scrappy 1-0 victory at Tynecastle.
Crocker said (8.19pm): “Cifuentes doesn’t look to be remotely ready.”
Miller responded: “These are the things that drive a manager crazy. He’s got to be ready, have your shin guards on, have you strip on, be ready to go.
As the camera focused on Clement’s face Crocker added: “If looks could kill. He’s got a chain on as well. He definitely wasn’t ready at all.”
Miller continued: “This just drives managers crazy. You just never know how [terrible] that could be. You could lose a goal, you could lose momentum in a game, just by not being ready on the bench to go on the pitch.”
Slack
If Cifuentes was hoping to impress his manager after a relatively inauspicious start to life at Ibrox then it was an almost comedically bad way to go about it.
When Clement was no doubt already cursing his luck to see Lawrence go down with the latest in a never-ending series of injury issues, to both him and the Rangers squad in general, he will have had little patience for Cifuentes being unprepared.
Clearly the 24-year-old wouldn’t have expected to be called upon inside 20 minutes, although after Todd Cantwell was substituted in just over half an hour against Aris Limassol last week perhaps the whole bench should be on their toes from now on.
Cifuentes then went on to produce a first-half performance that further proved he wasn’t ready to contribute properly.
In fairness to him he did improve after the break, but on the strength of the evening as a whole it likely won’t have convinced the manager that he deserves a regular starting spot over the likes of Nico Raskin, Ryan Jack or Lawrence.
However, he might be in line for a place in the XI by default as the fitness worries continue to spread, so he will need to make sure his baseline level is no worse than the second half showing, and preferably some way above it.
John Lundstram wasn’t at his best against Hearts either and the lack of control Rangers had all night meant the narrow scoreline was a risky one throughout.
Too many players were again below par but the three points were secured amid strong performances from the likes of Jack Butland, James Tavernier and Abdallah Sima, and Clement was able to focus on the positives having got the win.
In other Rangers news, a personality crash has strained the relationship between two to “breaking point” at Ibrox.