Rangers: Philippe Clement fumes over Todd Cantwell incident as injury news emerges
Philippe Clement has hit out at St Johnstone players and referee Matthew McDermid for the treatment of Todd Cantwell after a new Rangers injury update was revealed.
The former Norwich City midfielder was replaced on the hour-mark against the Saints on Sunday 18 February, with the Belgian stating that Cantwell could be sidelined for a “few weeks”.
Having been fouled six times during his 60 minutes on the pitch, as per FotMob, Clement was, rightly, fuming with the treatment of his player and called for more protection from referees.
Speaking to Daily Record on Monday (27 February), Clement said: “For sure, it will not have helped. Todd has made a really positive evolution in that way. His attitude is much better in the last couple of weeks.
“Todd’s always been a player who is really good on the ball but sometimes he’s a little bit too provocative. I’ve spoken with him about that. He’s learned lessons and the moment he started to play more simply, he started to play better too.
“So for sure, in this game, he could have been more protected because there were a few challenges. For sure I remember one in the midfield where he gets (flipped over) and for me, those are always yellow cards.
“But I am not a referee so for sure I’m not going to go in those discussions because I am a coach, not a referee. I don’t think refs need to protect one player more than the other. I think their job is to follow the rules of the game and to help us have a good product of football.”
Todd Cantwell needs more protection at Rangers
Many players are well known for winding their opponent up on the pitch, with Brentford’s Neal Maupay currently the trending example of his after altercations with Manchester City’s Kyle Walker and West Ham’s Kevin Nolan.
However, just because Cantwell is able to provoke others on the pitch, does not mean he deserves to be kicked and beaten on the pitch by disgruntled opposition players.
Referees must keep a closer eye on intentional fouls, especially after Cantwell was fouled six times at McDiarmid Park, with St Johnstone only handed three yellow cards after making 24 fouls. [FotMob]
Only one of these yellow cards was due to a foul on Cantwell, David Keltjens going into the book. And with the recent injury news, the Gers could really miss their star midfielder over the next few weeks.
Despite a disappointing outcome for the 26-year-old, Clement will be very pleased with the club’s activity in the January transfer window, which will help soften the injury blow.
Mohamed Diomande will be more than capable of occupying the position in Cantwell’s absence, which will be vital if Rangers are to pip Old Firm rivals Celtic to the Scottish Premiership title.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton has issued a Gers claim with Brendan Rodgers “under the pump” amid a new controversy.
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