Philippe Clement has claimed that the “pressure” of competition in the Rangers squad is threatening to turn his non-existent hair white.
Whilst some might feel the team’s profligacy in front of goal in the win over Ross County might’ve had Clement thanking his lucky stars he’s bald, it’s the options in his team which is giving Le Gaffer plenty to think about.
The Rangers manager was speaking after the Scottish Premiership victory over Ross County, where he made seven changes from the weekend’s victory over Ayr United.
With Rangers proving fluid despite the Belgian manager flexing his squad, Philippe Clement claims competition for places is fierce and if he had any hair on his head, they’d be turning white.
Philippe Clement on Rangers player “pressure”
The Rangers boss was responding to a question on captain James Tavernier, who provided three assists in the 3-1 win over Ross County.
Instead moving the question on to focus on the contributions of the other full-back options in the squad, the Rangers boss had done similar minutes earlier with Cyriel Dessers and Fabio Silva.
“Tav is very important like Ridvan was for me also really good today, and Borna is also pushing that way,” said Clement. “Dujon was suspended for today.
“It’s interesting the next couple of weeks. It’s good I don’t have too much hair anymore because otherwise I could be in danger to look in a different way in a couple of weeks with all the things I need to think about. So the team is putting pressure on me and I like that.”
Ibrox collective the “most important” feeling
The Rangers manager is always talking openly about the collective and has been clear that he believes football is a squad game.
Speaking about the belief in the Rangers squad, Philippe Clement reckons that it’s the feeling of collectivity that is the “most important” inside Ibrox at present.
“The most important thing is there’s a lot of collectivity,” said Clement.
“Because you see we didn’t play with the same XI as a few days ago but you don’t see a difference in what we are doing, you don’t see a difference when players are coming in, everybody is doing their job for the team and that’s the way we need to do it until the end of the season.
“That’s a really crucial one for me. They all feel part of the story, they all had already their importance, all the team, all the squad this season and we need to continue in that way.”
Rangers now turn their attentions to the Scottish Premiership clash with St Johnstone on Sunday lunchtime.
