Michael Stewart tears into ‘mental’ Clement after what he did in Rangers loss
Michael Stewart has torn Philippe Clement to pieces after what he did as the Rangers manager in the 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat against Queen’s Park on Sunday.
Rangers bowed out of the Scottish Cup after losing to second-tier club Queen’s Park at Ibrox on 9 February, with a second-half goal from Sebastian Drozd sealing an unlikely win for the visitors.
With the Gers out of both cup competitions and 13 points behind Celtic in the title race, Clement faces a herculean task to win a trophy this season.
Therefore, Clement is under serious threat of being sacked as the Light Blues manager, with Stewart now hitting out at him.
Michael Stewart blasts Philippe Clement
Stewart questioned Clement’s substitutions in the game, describing his call to take Bailey Rice off at half-time as “deplorable”.
He is of the view that the decision will have affected Rice psychologically as his full debut was cut short.
The pundit was left baffled after the Belgian tactician replaced Ianis Hagi with Ridvan Yilmaz just after the one-hour mark with the scoreline still reading 0-0, dubbing those substitutions as “mental”.
“Bailey Rice did not deserve to get taken off at half-time”, Stewart said on Premier Sports’ The Scottish Football Social Club on Monday, 10 February.
“I thought it was a deplorable decision because the team was lacking urgency… Bailey Rice, youngster, first start at Ibrox, doing absolutely fine by the way.
“The more experienced players in and around him are the ones that you are looking for that urgency and that intensity from.
“Bailey Rice has got great technique and ability, and he will be brought along with those more experienced players.
“If you are looking at making a substitution, you do not sub the youngster because you’re damaging him psychologically, and even more so now that the result has gone the way it has gone because he’ll be feeling like he was the problem.
“He absolutely was not the problem, and then to take Hagi off, who wasn’t having a particularly great game, and putting a left-back on, mental. Mental.”
Philippe Clement to be sacked at Rangers?
Winning the UEFA Europa League may be Clement’s only chance of winning a trophy this season, and that too is unlikely in all honesty.
Therefore, the Rangers board now have a decision to make regarding the 50-year-old’s future as their manager.
There has been a lot of talk about Clement finally being relieved of his duties after Sunday’s shock defeat against Queen’s Park.
David Edgar of the Hand & Heart podcast believes it is inevitable that the former Monaco boss is sacked as the Gers manager.
However, the Rangers board does not seem to have made any such decision yet, with Clement remaining at the helm for the time being.
The Glasgow giants return to Premiership action against Hearts on Sunday (16 February) and he will be in the dugout as things stand.
Clement, though, is unlikely to remain in charge of the Premiership heavyweights at the start of next season.
It remains to be seen what the board’s succession plans are.