Rangers manager Philippe Clement has been speaking to the press ahead of the club’s Europa League clash with FCSB at Ibrox.
The Ibrox boss will be hoping that his team can get back to winning ways with the energy sapped from the support following the weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock.
Here’s the big takeaways from Philippe Clement as Rangers get ready to do Europa League battle against Romanian outfit FCSB in Glasgow.
Philippe Clement eyes post-Kilmarnock reaction
“It was a big disappointment after the game in Kilmarnock,” said Clement.
“Me, the players, staff, fans; nobody was happy with the level of performance and for sure the result.
“So then you need to switch your mindset and look forward and you want to react as fast as possible.
“That’s what’s going on in the dressing and that’s the same with me. You want the next game to come as fast as possible and to win that one.”
Later Clement said: “That was one of the lower days for sure against Kilmarnock, in the specific circumstances also now.
“And it’s about reacting now towards Steaua Bucharest and I have a lot of confidence in this squad for the short term and for sure the long term also.”
‘Angry’ Rangers fans must trust Ibrox ‘process’
“Of course fans are not happy now,” said Clement. “And you guys and we talked a lot about that.
“All the circumstances, sportive (and) non sportive, of the last couple of months.
“They are not happy after the last results. They were happy after Malmo for example, so it goes up and down.
“It’s about creating consistency again, creating momentum again with all the squad, all the results.
Later the manager added: “We spoke about, and I don’t want to repeat it too much, about a big rebuild in many ways.
“With cutting wages to make the club sustainable, for now and for the future, because there were decisions made in the past before the time I was here.
“I stepped in that story after long talks for the long term, also to making long-term decisions, together with the board, towards that, for the future.
“We are working really hard with the players, everybody and the staff, to make it as fast as possible back to that level the club was 12, 15 years ago.
“Or in moments in the last couple of years. Never over a long period. So that takes time and we’re going to work hard on that.
“It’s a process you need to follow.”
No time-scale on steady Rangers improvement
“Those are good questions for everybody who has never been a manager or a player,” said Clement, when asked how long it will take for his team to gel.
“Because there are so many circumstances that you don’t have under control that you cannot say that.
“There are players who come to a team and from the first day they feel good, there are other players who need three months, or six months.
“They are human beings, those are not machines.
“You can ask these questions and everybody does all over the world, there is not one manager in the world who can say that for any transfer.
“We had to do a lot because of the circumstances, so it’s about working hard with the players, with the staff, to get the players as fast as possible in their best form.
“So that takes time. Is there somebody who can predict how fast it goes? Not.
“Emotions has a lot to do with results. We could’ve played that game with winning 1-0 and there’s a totally different emotion for the moment.
“It’s now getting consistency in results and performances and growing as a team.”
Rangers need ‘stability’ in order to achieve ‘consistency’
“I said the team will be better in October, November than it was in August,” said Clement.
“That’s also the case. It’s been better also in September.
“I think everybody was really positive about the Malmo game for example, that was better than in August.
“So we need to get to that level more consistently. For sure, I am 200% confident (we’re on the right trajectory).”
Later Clement said: “(Stability) is the only way. But it’s also not the only way here.
“It’s the only way in clubs all over Europe and all over the world. If you change ideas every three months, every six months or every year, of course there’s no consistency in the club.
“You need to follow one track, one process, that everybody keeps on going in the same direction otherwise you will always have ups and downs.
“If you go in the emotion of the day or one result or two results, then you can never create consistency.
“I’m throwing myself on all those things because I engaged myself in that way, because I believe so much in the potential of this club and to bring it back where it was before.”
Philippe Clement will get time at Rangers
“Of course that was the whole idea about the contract,” said Clement. “From the board, and from me, to show I would not leave if something else came along the way.
“So everybody who did this job and who has worked in football knows to make that rebuild, and cutting wages, and making the club sustainable and investing in young players for now and for the future, it takes time.
“You cannot do that in one, two, three months, it’s impossible.
“Or you need to have all the luck in the world that everybody directly settles in, that there are no injuries, and that in all the games everything falls your way.”
Clement added: “All the fans were behind the story (last season).
“I didn’t go in the high that moment, or in the Harry Potter stories, so I don’t go in the drama also now.
“There is a big space in between and we’re in that space in between.
“And the fans will see, the next months that this team will become better.
“But the more they stick behind this team, the more they are positive, the more they give the team energy, the faster it will go also.
“But we understand also from our side that the fans need to see also things on the pitch.
“We were not happy with the performance in that way against Kilmarnock.”
Kilmarnock pitch cited in painful defeat
“I don’t want to use that as an excuse because it’s part of the story there,” said Clement.
“It’s not an excuse, we should have won, but we will never play the same football as in Malmo at Kilmarnock.
“We should’ve played in a better way to win the game, but to see really good football there on the pitch, you will not see it.
“I don’t want to hide behind that excuse. It’s about winning and we didn’t win.”
Earlier Clement said: “We were not happy with the performance in that way against Kilmarnock.
“And I don’t want to hide behind excuses of the kind of pitch. It’s kind of a reason but I won’t want to use that.
“Not before the game, not after the game, so we’re going to keep on working hard to make things better as fast as possible.”
Danilo and Ridvan Yilmaz injury update
“I was yesterday at the second team game,” said Clement. “Watching the players, watching the young guys, watching Danilo back scoring a goal.
“Getting back in shape, he still has a long way to go.
“Those are also positive points that for the moment fans don’t see.
“Yes that’s normal because Dani still has a way to go but he’s going to be also important in that way on the thighs we want to achieve the next couple of months.”
On Ridvan, Clement said: “(Ridvan) is not yet in the selection because Ridvan trained now the second time with the first team but he came out a serious injury.
“It’s too fast for him to put him in a game but he’s in a positive way.“
Zak Lovelace impresses Rangers manager
“(Zak Lovelace) will be in the selection (v FCSB),” said Clement.
“Zak is not there for the fans to be excited for ten games in a row.
“He can do specific things in another style than other players in the squad but there are still also a lot of things to work on.
“But that’s normal, he’s only 18 or 19 years old, but he’s an interesting profile for the future and for the near future, maybe also.
“We decided before the game it was maximum 60 minutes before the (B Team) game is was maximum 60 minutes to play and we would decide during half-time if it was 45 or 60.
“In 45 I saw enough because I want him on the bench for Thursday also if it’s necessary we can use that sort of profile, what we have less because of injuries.”
Rangers building leaders after summer of change
“We’re working on (new leaders) to make it better and better,” said Clement.
“We have several. We had more before because we had a more mature squad.
“There are several young players with potential to grow in that way.
“I used Connor Barron as an example, in that way. That he did really good things in his first weeks in the club here.
“He has a lot of potential for the future in that way but of course being a leader in Rangers is something else than to be in another club.
“That’s also part of all this process. Giving these players responsibilities, giving them them the mandate to be a leader in that way and to become stronger.
“And also to see how people react in the difficult moments, like now, it’s very interesting now to see who stands up, who has more difficulty with that.
“How to react with that, with the new guys who come into the building, because it’s also part of being a player at Rangers.
“When you don’t win, you’re not good, as a player, as a manager, as a press officer, as a chairman, as whoever it is, that’s part of being at this club.
“It’s also the part that everybody needs to embrace, because this passion you get back in the good moments.”
Clement urges patience after being called ‘boring’
“I agree (we didn’t create enough chances) in the Kilmarnock game,” said Clement.
“It was the case, in other games we created more chances. Not in all the games until now.
“But you see also we are starting to play also with new players in that role who are just in the building.
“Nedim Bajrami is how long here? Four weeks, six weeks maximum? And in the six weeks he’s been three or four away with the international team.
“They’re just in the building. There are a lot of players in other clubs who come to their better level now after the first six months everybody say they were not good.
“Nedim did already good things but you of course you need to create these connections on the pitch, more and more, to get to know each other.”
Rangers must ‘respect’ FCSB challenge
“You need to have a lot of respect for them, they have six (points) out of six,” said Clement.
“And they did it in a good way. It’s a very good technical team with a lot of offensive power.
“So we need to play a game at the level of Malmo to get the three points again and that’s what we want to do tomorrow.”
