Rangers manager Philippe Clement greeted a pre-match press conference against Hibs in his usual style.
The charismatic Belgian boss loves a one-liner or two and has developed a positive and warm relationship with the journalists who gather for these Q&As.
After a two week shut down, Philippe Clement even claimed he was “happy” to see them again as the Ibrox club welcome Hibs to Glasgow on Scottish Premiership duties.
Here’s every word from the Rangers manager’s latest press conference as he talks injuries, contracts, and Old Firm ticket allocations:
PC: Happy to see everybody again, it seems like ages ago. I’m ready.
We’ll soon take away your good mood, it can be frustrating talking about player’s fitness, can we get an update on the players who had problems?
“I will say the players who are back in training. Dujon (Sterling) is back in training, Kieran Dowell is back in training, Abdallah Sima is back in training and Ross McCausland is back in training. So the guys who are out is Ridvan (Yilmaz), Ryan Jack, Oscar Cortes and Danilo.”
What’s the prognosis on Ridvan?
“It’s not going to be long, long term. We’re going to see next week. There’s a possibility he can be fit for next week but it’s still a doubt so we will see next week to make more evaluation about that.”
Of the players who are in training, are they in contention for this weekend v Hibs?
“They are in contention but not to play 90 minutes. Then it’s to make choices if they can only play 15, 20 minutes you can’t have four or five players like that on the bench so we need to take that into account and to make good choices around that.”
You’re a ‘one game at a time manager’ but given the significance of next weekend are you thinking about the game v Celtic with regards the minutes for the players?
“I’m not the only one I think. Yeah but it’s not because it’s against Celtic. It’s always like that. Of course I am focused on the next game and getting a result but it’s always a longer term plan also with the players. I never risk players, also not when even if we play Dumbarton next weekend, so it’s always longer term. I never play with the safety of my players. Of course you can have like at the end of the season you can have a decisive game and you make a gamble together with your medical staff and your player. That can happen, during the season never.”
How happy are you to see Abdallah Sima coming back?
“It’s important but of course he has been a long-time out so you cannot expect miracles from the start but he has shown his quality. He has his power, his pace, he has the appetite for goals, and he came back in a good way in the training. So that’s positive. It’s now building rhythm again, making him stronger again, and then he’s going to play an important part I think in this last two months.”
What about the return of away fans at the Old Firm fixtures, is that a positive thing?
“For me yes. For sure. I think everybody loves football with two sides of fans who sing against each other or sing towards each other and to have this atmosphere. No one enjoyed the Covid period when there were no fans, that was really difficult, it was hard. For me it was also really strange to play in Celtic Park without supporters of ourselves, so it was the first time for me. It’s a strange experience so I think everybody, every player, every manager wants both sides in the stadium. Football is about that. It’s entertainment and entertainment from two teams so it’s a very positive thing from my side.”
How did the Celtic Park derby differ from other derbies you’ve managed?
“Not that much because you’re focused on your team and the game but you want to hear them, you want to feel them. It’s part of football, it’s part of our lives. You do it also for a big part for fans and to see them happy and to feel the respect and to have this synergy together so I think it’s an important thing also for the atmosphere in a stadium to have two kinds of fans in the stadium.”
There is still two games to go this season – are you disappointed that it wasn’t sorted this season?
“I am not disappointed because I know also making rules you cannot switch things in one day. There’s a lot of organisation about things and about relocating people because you bring fans in and all those thing. So I’m not involved in that in the club, I have enough other jobs to do, but I understand that you cannot change this thing in one week so it’s a very positive thing from next season there becomes a more normal situation again.”
How beneficial was the international break in bringing the squad together?
“In that way not, if you put the question like that because the squad was not together. So I had today all my players back because Cyriel (Dessers) and Fabio (Silva) played on Tuesday evening quite some minutes. They played the first game also, they had a lot of travelling to do so they could not train on Thursday to be fit for the game. So it was the first time today. So in that way it’s always exciting because I always see our story together like a book. I’ve talked about that in the past, about a book and every week writing new pages together. But it’s important that they don’t forget pages, that you wrote together before, in the way we play football, in the way what they need to do together on the pitch. So it’s a new test again because it seems like months ago that we played together, that’s my feeling. So I want to see that they didn’t forget anything tomorrow, that’s the challenge.”
How beneficial was it to work with the guys who weren’t on international duty?
“It’s individual. Some guys had a lot of games, they had a lot of work done the last couple of months. They needed to, not to do nothing, but they needed to find a better balance than when they played every three days so they are fresh again. And others they had to train harder to come back after an injury so in that way we used the time in the best way.”
In the run-in how much does it play a part that you’ll play ahead of Celtic this weekend?
“Zero. No, totally not interested in that. It’s about us. It’s about performing and focus on our performance. If we perform well then the points follow. It’s all about that, and showing the right mentality, what they’ve shown the last couple of months. Showing what we can do together on and off the pitch, also players coming in giving their energy to the team. It’s a lot of things about us, it’s only about us, and it will be about us until half of May, or end of May.”
Benfica was the first time your team haven’t scored since you arrived; is that a testament to your performance in front of goal?
“Probably. When I came in I said also I want to see a team who’s dominant, I want to see a team who wants to create chances, who wants to score goals. So we’ve been playing like that for months. I didn’t realise it was the first time. We had the chances against Benfica but it’s a good team so that can happen in football. I’m not worried about that because there are much better teams in the world who don’t score every game. It’s good proof of the intentions that the team has and they way they want to play also, and the way I want to see them play.”
Are you comfortable with the club’s standard of set pieces, both attacking and defensive?
“There’s certainly room for improvement. Because of that we are training for that every week and before every game. So for sure there is room for improvement in the delivery, in the runs, in the timing also, in the way of heading. So we’re working on that hard.”
Did you track the player’s performances on international duty?
“Yes I want to know everything. I track everything, otherwise I cannot sleep. We know everything of them. That’s also one of the things we installed the last international break in November. That we have contact with the players every day, also about their training, what they are doing there, so that one moment maybe you can intervene when it’s not enough for example, when players are not playing and you have contact with the federations also to do something extra. Of course, if they do too much you don’t have control on that so that’s something that I need to let go, that’s part of our lives as managers of clubs. I think a lot of managers have problems with that sometimes but with a lot of federations there’s a really good contact. It’s important because it’s important for us but for them also. If the players perform here well and develop well, it’s better for the national teams also.”
Is there any update on John Lundstram’s contract?
“No, because otherwise you guys would know.”
Are you hopeful he will extend?
“Yes, I am totally confident about that, that there’s a lot of love from both sides so then there will be a solution one moment.”
What kind of challenge are you expecting from Hibs?
“It’s a good footballing team. It’s a team who always creates a lot of chances and scores a lot of goals. I think third most in the league. And they’re really hungry to beat us. I feel it every time more that we play against each that the hunger and the desire becomes bigger. That’s my feeling around that. So we need to see a really good Rangers team and we need to feel a really good support from the fans to play a really strong game to win again.”
The last game was a fiery encounter with red cards – is that something you’ve warned your players about?
“It’s one of my principles and my players know. I don’t want to see tackles like that. I don’t want that they get involved and they get emotional when they get tackled like that and that they stay calm and that we stay with XI. And that they don’t go in discussions with opponents or referees or all those things, that they are just focused on football and on ourselves.”
