Philippe Clement beamed in a press conference after his Rangers side eked out a potentially crucial win over Kilmarnock.
Rangers came from behind to defeat Kilmarnock 2-1 at Rugby Park in a hard-fought victory which could be vital come May.
The result keeps the Ibrox side at the top of the Scottish Premiership, two points ahead of Old Firm rivals Celtic, with the Belgian manager’s treble dream very much alive.
Speaking to a post-match press conference, Philippe Clement heaped praise on his Rangers charges and the mentality they showed in Kilmarnock.
Philippe Clement post-match press conference Kilmarnock v Rangers
What attributes did your team have to show to come back and win that game?
Resilience, mentality, solidarity, and the quality to adapt, because we started the game well with a good set piece where we could’ve scored that they save on the line. So if you go in front it’s a totally different game. Then after a little bit more than ten minutes you get this penalty against. So that’s a frustrating moment because all the scenario is against you. You know you get an opponent who sits back, who waits for your mistakes to make the counter attacks and to be dangerous, and our tempo was then too slow in the first half. You need some time to adapt. It’s a totally different kind of football and I felt in moments that my players were like bambi on ice, moving like that. So they had to adapt to that and we spoke about that at half time. Second half they were great. They were massive in every sense. The mentality, the resilience, the tempo, the fighting spirit, players coming in giving a lot of energy to the team and quality. So this is a major win. Also, one thing to add, we get a penalty against and we could’ve had an easier last five minutes also I think if we also get a penalty at the end. I want to hear also what is the reason that you give the first penalty yes and the second no. That’s really not clear for me. So we go back to the story about handballs but I hope you guys can explain something about that because that was a really weird situation for me.”
You captain come up with a huge moment once again – what can you say about James Tavernier?
“That he is always there. He’s always there. He fights hard for the team, because it’s not only about scores and stats but also the defensive job. And he stays positive, he keeps on fighting until the last second, he gives everything and that mentality has become more-and-more in the team and also with the fans. They were also great today, they were amazing today. You can become negative because in the first half you go behind, it’s difficult to create chances, but they kept on singing, they kept their positivity, they kept on pushing. They know the team will do everything, everything, everything to get these three points so this connection that there is now between the fans and the team is also major for me.”
Is that the kind of result which might’ve not been possible before you came in?
“I don’t want to speak about that because it’s the players who do it. It’s about them and it’s for them these nights need to be reference evenings in their head for the future also.”
Was Jack Butland’s crucial second half save a turning point?
“Yeah but you can speak about 11 players or 15 or 16 players who did major things to get the result. That’s also all credit to Derek and his team who made it a really big fight, and also what they’ve been doing all these months. It’s now in 15 games that Kilmarnock only lost twice, two times against us, and the rest they didn’t lose one of the games. So huge credit also to Kilmarnock that they make it a really big fight. Of course they are more used to these circumstances and apparently we needed some time to adapt to the circumstances because I saw a big difference in the second half.”
Does it feel like a significant result tonight because of the circumstances?
“Yeah of course because of the scenario of the game that goes against you. But this is not a group of players any more who stop, or quit, or become nervous or become islands. No, they stick together and they fight hard and they show quality because it’s two quality goals and several good attacks also. So no, it’s very important.”
Are you proud with the mentality of the team and how they defended in the last 15 minutes?
“Yeah of course because we didn’t give away a lot anymore and it’s not easy when the other team puts power play like that. And we not only defended but we tried to create also out of those situations. We could’ve scored more and we could’ve had a penalty also, what (would’ve) made the job easier at the end.”
What did you say to your players at half time to get a reaction?
“That’s between us, some things are for the dressing room so it’s not important. The boys did it. They showed what they have to show, they showed what they showed already a lot of times last couple of months, and because of that I’m really proud of them.”
It’s that the kind of mentality that wins a title?
“We’re not busy with that. Without that mentality you cannot win titles, that’s one thing, but it’s about confirming this game-by-game.”
How’s Oscar Cortes after holding his hamstring?
“No idea for the moment. It’s really early so we will see tomorrow or the day after and to make a good assessment about him, if he was tired or is it more. Let’s hope not because we’re missing already enough players. That’s something to work on the next months and for sure in the preparation of next season.”
