After Philippe Clement labelled Rangers the “moral winners” in the Old Firm clash with Celtic, it’s a soundbite which has had mixed reactions.
The Belgian made the claim in reference to Rangers’ quite heroic double-comeback against Celtic at Ibrox when the club’s title hopes looked to have taken quite the dent.
Heading into the match you’d have felt a draw was an opportunity missed; at half-time it looked like such an outcome would be a miracle.
Alas, Rangers bounced back from two goals down only to fall 3-2 behind within minutes and throw away all their good work, ramping up quite the seethe in the process.
But then up stepped Rabbi Matondo – the Welsh winger reborn in recent weeks – to curl home a stunning equaliser and spare everyone’s blushes.
It’s a moment which turned the mood at Ibrox drastically and Philippe Clement – whose been a capable operator with the media so far – took it upon himself to label Rangers unofficial winners.
Philippe Clement: Rangers were moral winners v Celtic
Speaking after Rangers’ 3-3 draw with Celtic, Philippe Clement branded the Ibrox side the “moral winners”.
But what was the context of the quote? Well, it concerns the Ibrox side’s resilience in the face of adversity.
“The second half we showed our real face, I think,” said Clement. “We showed the real things that I want to see, this never stopping team that has a lot of resilience, that has a lot of hunger, desire, to change the result.
‘To do the right things, to create chances, not to give away chances and then it became, for you guys, a crazy scenario. For us the scenario that I wanted. Not with the 2-2 and then with the 2-3 of course, but we clearly deserve at least a point today with what we’ve shown.
“I think at the end the moral winners of this afternoon. Because a few months ago for sure not this team could’ve reacted after 0-2 in an Old Firm and I don’t know if many teams of the past could’ve done it.
“So it’s a hard thing in a very important game like this to go 0-2 behind, to also feel the disappointment of your fans when you go in halftime in the dressing room, to turn that around. And because of that I’m really proud of my boys.”
Rangers manager heaps title pressure on himself
Whilst we get it’s an attempt at balancing perspective, the comments really do have the propensity to backfire in the title race.
If Philippe Clement didn’t understand the Old Firm before the weekend, he will should he fail to wrestle the title back this season.
We’d very much rather be actual winners than moral winners and we suspect those comments are bookmarked ahead of the run-in.
As the Rangers boss looks to maintain the positive synergy between the team and support maybe it’s a bullet Clement is willing to take.
But you can bet that if Rangers fumble in the final furlong the replies are already set to send.
