Clement ’embarrasses himself’ with new comments on Rangers fans
Philippe Clement has had several months to gather his thoughts after being sacked by Rangers.
The Belgian manager was dismissed from his role last February after a string of poor domestic results.
He could arguably have been shown the door earlier had the team not performed so well in the Europa League.
However, in a new interview, Clement has identified the exact moment where he believes his Rangers career was doomed to fail.
Clement pinpoints Scottish League Cup final as turning point for his Rangers career
Rangers reached the Scottish League Cup final in December, but were defeated by bitter rivals Celtic on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
Clement’s side were denied a clear penalty toward the end of that match, with the referee later admitting he had made a mistake in not awarding it.
That admission did nothing for Rangers. It wasn’t given and Clement was out of a job around three months later.
Now, in an interview with BBC Sport (8 June), Clement suggested that a triumph in that match may have bought him more time in the Rangers hotseat.
He said: “I think it was a vital game. If we had won, there would have been more patience with the fans also and the board could have stayed much calmer.”
Clement added: “It’s a pity that the story stopped, that the board didn’t have the patience, or maybe listened too much to some fans.”
Clement embarrasses himself with excuses for failures at Rangers
Football is a game of fine lines. It’s true that there can be far-reaching consequences behind one refereeing decision, including people losing their jobs.
However, Clement should be embarrassed to highlight one match as the reason why he was sacked by Rangers.
His comments imply that the board were swayed by the fans’ sentiment toward him. In reality, his poor results throughout the season spoke for themselves.
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses |
| 27 | 17 | 5 | 5 |
Clement would have wanted more time to turn things around at Ibrox. Every manager wants more time. But the Belgian was arguably given more grace than many of his predecessors.
The Gers were 13 points behind Celtic when Clement was dismissed, and were also knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park under his watch.
The fans at Ibrox will be hoping to put this season behind them, following the club’s takeover and the appointment of new manager Russell Martin.