Chris Sutton is never one to hold an opinion on Rangers, especially if it means that he can get a sly dig in.
After a hard fought, but deserved, 1-0 win over Hearts, Gers boss Philippe Clement was balanced with his assessment of the performance – it could have and should have been more.
As part of the Sky Sports coverage of the game, Chris Sutton was asked about Clement’s approach with Rangers and interview and the ex-Celtic striker surprised his colleagues in the studio with his response.
Chris Sutton gives Rangers boss backhanded compliment
The Belgian has arrived at Ibrox and simplified things from day one.
All he wants to do is win.
Nothing complicated.
He also, as we saw with his handling of the Todd Cantwell incident, isn’t one for drama or soap operas.
In short, he’s not one to cut off his nose to spite his face.
Pundits have spent the last 12 months regularly questioning our manager and tactics as we lurched from one disaster to another.
However, on this occasion Chris Sutton was full of praise, through gritted teeth, for the Rangers manager.
“I don’t like it, because Rangers seem to have a manager who talks common sense.”
Sutton is right, Philippe Clement isn’t one to mince his words or speak in riddles.
He doesn’t get too high and doesn’t get too low.
What has been refreshing is that Clement has been honest, about injuries in his squad, about the performances of players, but he doesn’t hyperbolise and always comes back to the central theme of the team being all important.
Sutton also touched on the prospect of there being a real title race and maybe this is where his anxiety comes from.
Rangers have a proper manager in charge who is experienced at winning titles and building successful squads.
It’s just a shame that he inherited a squad with issues and a seven point deficit in the league.
