Philippe Clement is a standard setter, he arrived at Rangers and one of the first things he did was make sure that every player knew what was expected of them.
The Gers boss keeps his message simple but wants the whole squad to buy into what it takes to be a success at Ibrox.
One player who is slowly adapting to life as a Rangers player is Fabio Silva, the on-loan forward who Philippe Clement is using a trick straight out of Walter Smith’s book to get him up to the same level of understanding as the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo.
Walter Smith’s treatment of Ronaldo shows Philippe Clement the way
When Sir Alex Ferguson needed a short-term right-hand man, someone he could trust, he knew that Walter would be perfect.
Little did he know that the Rangers legend would have such a profound effect on one of the greatest to every play the game.
Man Utd’s technical director of football and former Scotland international Darren Fletcher was a player at the time and recalls how Smith dealt with the antics of a certain Portuguese magician:
“Eventually Walter Smith came in and decided not to give fouls in training.
“In general, I think the sole purpose was for Ronaldo. So when Ronaldo’s doing his skills, not passing the ball and taking the mick, the lads were fouling him.
“Before, the first six months of the season, there’d be fouls given as you’d expect, and Walter said: ‘No, no fouls’.
“For two weeks Ronaldo was tearing his hair out and he was going bananas.”
“Open season. Hit him.
“What happens after a few weeks? Ronaldo starts moving the ball because he’s sick of getting kicked,” Fletcher recalls.
“Now he starts playing one or two-touch and running, now he starts getting goals.
“Now it starts clicking in his head: ‘I’m starting to score more goals, now I’m starting to make an impact in games’.
“That was the beginning of Ronaldo’s transition.”
What has Walter Smith’s treatment of Ronaldo have to do with Rangers?
Speaking as part of the build up to tonight’s Scottish Premiership clash with Dundee, Philippe Clement has been reflecting on Fabio Silva’s performance at Ibrox on Sunday.
There’s no doubt that his antics before being fouled by Alistair Johnston led to John Beaton reaching for the yellow card and giving Celtic a free-kick before VAR pointed to the contact coming before the forward’s theatrics.
Like Smith, Clement has been adopting a tactic in training that should see Silva cut out a habit that could hinder his career:
“Referees always need to take moment after moment. But it’s human also. I’m also like that. That’s why in training, I don’t whistle fast for a foul because I want my players to be prepared to keep going and not stopping.
“Fabio took it in a good way and it’s again making him better as a player. It will help him in the rest of his career.”
Clement is right, you just need to look at Ronaldo and how he became more focussed and disciplined on the pitch.
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a player, who clearly isn’t injured if they can roll about, choosing to stay on the deck rather than help their teammates win the ball back.
As we saw on Sunday, it can affect an official’s decision making and free-kicks, that might normally be given, won’t.
Look at Kyogo at Livingston last week.
That should have been a penalty, but because of his reputation, the officials must have decided that the Japan international has bought the foul.
Philippe Clement doesn’t care that Fabio Silva is only at Rangers on loan, he is looking after the player’s best interests and it is this quality that seems him share such an important quality with the great Walter Smith.
