5 burning Philippe Clement answers from Rangers Q&A with transfers, leadership & overhauling Celtic discussed

5 burning Philippe Clement answers from Rangers Q&A with transfers, leadership & overhauling Celtic discussed

Rangers manager Philippe Clement vents his frustration on the touchline during the 3-0 defeat to Celtic | SNS Group

The Ibrox manager found himself under the spotlight at Edmiston House on Tuesday night

Philippe Clement was put on the spot by Rangers fans to discuss some burning issues as he took part in a special Q&A event at Edmiston House last night to help raise funds for the club’s charity foundation.

The Belgian manager took time out of his busy schedule to engage with supporters alongside assistant manager Alex Rae as he fielded a number of important questions, with audience members given the opportunity to submit any queries they had. Key topics discussed included the Gers’ transfer business, bridging the gap on Celtic and growing unrest among the fanbase in the wake of last week’s heavy Old Firm defeat and early Champions League elimination.

Next month will mark a full year in the Ibrox hot seat since Clement replaced Michael Beale and it’s been a whirlwind start to life in Govan for the 50-year-old former Club Brugge and Monaco boss. He delivered instant trophy success by clinching the League Cup, while also reigniting the Light Blues title challenge last season before faltering during the run-in.

The start of his first full season has seen a summer of transition with a host of experienced players heading for the exit door to be replaced by more youthful replacements. Rangers have also been forces to play their home games away from Ibrox Stadium during the opening months of the campaign due to delayed works on the Copland Road stand with Hampden Park used as their temporary base.

They are currently five points behind Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops following a poor start to the campaign, having picked up just seven points from a possible 12 so far in the Scottish Premiership. Add in yet more European disappointment and frustrated supporters have made their feelings known in recent weeks, with a banner which read “Sack the Board” left hanging outside Ibrox – accusing club chiefs of “sleeping at the wheel”.

Here, GlasgowWorld picks out FIVE key headlines from the Q&A that were put to Clement from those in attendance and his responses in full.

Is squad capable of mounting a title challenge this season?

“Yeah, I’m convinced about that otherwise I wouldn’t be here. Of course, it is a big rebuild. 16 players left, we spoke about that already. It was not also easy to have a good transfer window because seven players left for zero and had to be replaced by players that cost money. We are not a club with a big investor saying ‘we spend £50m now and just go onto the market, it’s not the case’. We – recruitment, board and myself – need to be inventive. We had to cut the wages also because it was not sustainable the way the wages were built the last couple of years in the squad. There are a lot of challenges that way but I’m very convinced that we bring in a few experienced guys who can do the job directly but also several young guys, some who can do the job already, they need to prove they can do it every three days now. That’s the next step for them in their career. Some young guys also with a lot of potential. It’s the start of a new cycle and story. I’m very convinced this team has more potential for the future than the team was six months ago in that moment. It’s about potential and our job to get the potential out as fast as possible.”

What can you say to fans who are growing impatient?

“Everybody is working really hard for that and they need to realise players coming into this club need time to adapt, there is nobody in the world who can predict how somebody will react. You have some players – not only here but in all teams across the world – who need three months, six months and some adapt after a week. It’s a really personal thing you cannot predict. I’m very sure that we have brought in several really talented players who will grow and become better over the next couple of years. Fans have seen already some things of that. I don’t like to take out individuals but a young lad like Connor Barron. He didn’t play all the games at Aberdeen but some games. He’s made a big step forward and he got the reward also in being selected for the national team (Scotland) for the first time. You’ve also got a young lad like Jefte. He’s only 20 years old but already proving good things and there are others to come. It’s now about working hard with the team, to make them gel and create connections. Football is not a game that you put 11 players on the pitch and say ‘now we are going to do that’. The other side of the town, they’ve been building on their squad for more than one year and playing together. It’s normal they are ahead now although I hate that and I want to change it as fast as possible.”

How many transfers windows until you have the squad you want?

“I wish I had the answer to that and had a crystal ball. I know a lot of fans and for sure the young ones like to play the PlayStation, Football Manager and all those things. In real life it’s totally different. You cannot make any prediction about that because first it is about the finances you have yourself. I don’t know that yet for January. It’s about finding the right players and convincing them to come. It has to do with relationships with players and with their agents. The other clubs if they want to let them go or not. So it is impossible to predict that. The only thing I can say is that we are going to do it as fast as possible but you don’t have everything in your hands in that way.”

How are you going to close the gap on Celtic?

“The other side of the town have been building their squad for more than one year and playing together. It’s normal that they are ahead now. I hate that and I want to change that as fast as possible.”

What do you want to see from your core leadership group?

“I think for sure, intelligence. I’ve seen some players wanting to be leaders and they had the ability to speak to the group and the personality not to be afraid in front of the group or in difficult moments. But if you say the wrong things it doesn’t help. So that’s an important thing to say the right words. I think a good leader is also somebody who can change his message depending on which person you talk with. I think that is a massive one. Not many players have that quality. Some people become better when you are on top of them all the time, some need more support and some in-between. It depends on the situation. The good leaders in a group understand that, feel it and do it in a good way. It is very important for a manager to have a few of those types in your dressing room. During the game we can’t control everything from the side as we can’t reach the players. They need to do it at the right moments and right things together and you need some leaders in your group who understand the game and know what the manager wants in those situations and transmitting that towards the team. It is massive to have those types. In that way we need to create new types. [John] Lundstram for example was a type like that last season. Others now need to take over that role. Some are still in the building like Tav [James Tavernier] and Jack [Butland]. Others left like Connor Goldson, it is now giving this responsibility to other players.”

Any academy players you see breaking into the first-team over the next season or two?

“Yeah, I see some. I see it’s still a big step to make and that is the difference also between teams who need to win every game and teams who can give time to young players to develop. Last week I had a good talk about that with the chairman of Genk, my old team. It is a club similar with Rangers in the way that they don’t have a big investor who puts all the money in the world in like some clubs. They have a board with several people deciding together. That is already more challenging than a club that has one person deciding everything. They have an annual loss every year of €12 million. So to break even they need to sell for at least €12m every year. They are doing that already for many years and in a really successful way but he said that the big difference is ‘here we can live with cycles so we don’t need to become champion every year. If we can become champion every four or five years it is an amazing job.’ That is the big difference with here. Here, you need to develop and also win. That’s more challenging and it’s good because I don’t like a boring life so I like a challenge.”

 

Luke McCowan’s move to Celtic is the stuff of dreams for the former Dundee man.

A lifelong Celtic supporter, McCowan must have thought his chance to represent his boyhood heroes was probably not going to come before joining the club this summer.

At 26, the midfielder had carved out a great career for himself as he worked his way to becoming the Dundee captain.

But now at Celtic, McCowan speaks about what it means to sign for Celtic and what Stiliyan Petrov told him after the defeat of Rangers.

McCowan will ‘use’ Petrov’s Celtic message

McCowan came on as a second-half substitute against Rangers and equipped himself well. And if making his debut wasn’t enough, meeting one of his boyhood heroes in Petrov put the icing on the cake.

McCowan told the Daily Mail, “I used to go to the masters football and Pierre van Hooijdonk was the main man. I got his autograph. You never think this stuff is going to happen.

“But even silly things, I’m able to go and buy my own house and stuff like that now. That’s going to help my family, help my life.

“I’m probably more motivating myself to get to their level. Stan Petrov came up to me after the Rangers game and was shaking my hand.

“I felt myself going like a 10-year-old wee boy. He was telling me, go and kick on. I’ve just got to use that as a confidence thing to push on and use.

“It’s so motivating to know you’ve got the best facilities, the best people, best coaches, best staff, best players that I can feed off.”

McCowan at Celtic

Celtic fans love it when a genuine fan gets to make their dream move to Paradise. What they also love is when that move is a success as well.

Because those kinds of players are living our dream. What many fans would give just to walk on the pitch never mind representing the club in the Hoops is indescribable.

For McCowan, the sheer joy on his face when he walked out of the tunnel on late on deadline day was a joy to watch.

📸 Here is your final signing of the summer, Celtic fans! Luke McCowan joined from Dundee for £1m ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Pxy5toF59u

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 30, 2024

With so much competition and talent in the Celtic midfield, McCowan has a job on his hands to stake a claim for a regular starting spot.

But listening to him speak, you simply cannot help but hope he makes his move a success and becomes a regular for Celtic this season and in the future