Robin Propper is finding out the hard way the rigours of life at Rangers and just how difficult it can be adjust to Scottish football.
The Dutch defender, 31, is enjoying his first foray out of the Netherlands following a summer move to Rangers from Eredivisie side FC Twente.
Having secured a shot at Champions League qualification for the Dutch club last season, Robin Propper joined Rangers with a big reputation which he has so far found it difficult to live up to.
Propper has spoken honestly about the challenges at Rangers with the defender found wanting several times in Scottish football and often struggling to get to grips with the intensity of the game on these shores.
But Philippe Clement has launched a staunch defence of the defender and pointed to Colombian striker Carlos Bacca as the prime example of why good things often take time.
Clement claims Bacca – who once cost AC Milan £21m – is the prime example of why it pays to have patience with new Ibrox arrivals.
Rangers fans can have Propper look at Carlos Bacca
“It’s challenging for some more than others,” Clement told the press ahead of the clash with Ross Couny.
“It depends where you’ve come from and your personality. Robin (Propper) has only been in the building for three months, we can’t forget that. So it’s a natural process.
“We had Carlos Bacca at Brugge when I was U21s coach.
“I was in a meeting with the scouts and a coach burst into the room, angry and pointing his finger. I will never forget this. He said: ‘Which one of you bought this player and said he was good? Even my grandmother is a better player’.
”Carlos had only been at the club for three months. He wasn’t good in training, really not good. Maybe the grandmother comment was a bit of an exaggeration, but he wasn’t good.
“He needed time to adapt. After eight months, he was the best player in the Brugge team.
“After his second year, he was top scorer and went on to play for Sevilla, AC Milan and Villarreal.
“He was a good player but needed time. It’s tough for players coming from other countries.
“Connor Barron coming to Rangers at least knows what the club are about. Now, giving players time doesn’t mean they can sit and relax and not push themselves every day.
“We push them to learn the culture and the demands of this club. They need to know the demands of the fans and the football here. And they need to learn from their mistakes.”
Philippe Clement ‘really clear’ about Rangers’ standards
Philippe Clement has also been speaking about those expectations at Rangers and getting the message across to new arrivals.
Robin Propper might be taking his time to adjust, but there are others in the team who have more naturally slipped into the rhythm of doing things at Ibrox.
There is no hard and fast way for Rangers to get everything to gel and every player requires different management as they look to find their way in Glasgow.
But Philippe Clement is clear that from the moment they walk in through the gates in Govan, every single player has been made abundantly clear what is expected of them.
“So we have a lot of new players in the building, so you know them from a lot of video, a lot of games that they played,” said Clement.
“So you know them in a certain way, but they play sometimes in different systems, in other way of football. So you need to see through that and see those are the qualities or those are the weaknesses.
“Can they make the squad better or not? Do they have potential for now directly or is it for a longer future? And we will work with that.
“We can bring them to a level that’s good enough for Rangers or a level that’s higher than that. So you need to take everything in account.
“But then it’s the personal matter also. You have talks with them individually. I try to be really open and honest always about that.
”I never want a player coming into the building and after one month they say to me ‘oh, gaffer, but that you didn’t tell me, I’m surprised about that’. I want to avoid that.
“So I’m really clear, really open about the positives and the more difficult ones about being here. So that’s a talk and everybody who’s in the building, who comes into the building, they said ‘yeah, I want that’. But then you need to do it also.”
