A large percentage of Rangers fans might want Philippe Clement sacked as the club’s manager.
But more than a few have overstepped the mark with a deluge of abuse awaiting the under-fire boss after the shock Ibrox Scottish Cup exit against Queen’s Park.
Furious Rangers fans are fed up paying their money for a second rate team and Philippe Clement was met with a tirade of anger as he left the stadium on Sunday.
Clips of unacceptable conduct have been circulating online and the whilst the Rangers manager accepts the criticism, the abuse is hard to take.
The comments and the incident comes just weeks after Stuart Kettlewell stepped down as Motherwell manager, citing unacceptable abuse.
Philippe Clement reacts to personal abuse from Rangers fans
“It hurts, of course, because I told you guys also in the good moments here, the thing why I like this job is to do things with people together,” Clement told the press ahead of the clash with Hearts.
”We had already some amazing moments of synergy with the fans, good moments, great moments.
“Amazing evenings at Ibrox, European games away, winning a trophy together. So those are the good moments. This was clearly a bad moment.
“And of course, I saw the video also. I didn’t look that people were making a video, but in the press comes also that moment what somebody’s shouting at you.
“That moment, there were also a lot of young children still asking for an autograph and because of that, I stopped also for them.
”So it’s a lot of things in the same moment. I understand the frustration of people. It’s difficult for me to say where a line is, because it’s something personal.
”We had a few weeks ago that for one manager (Stuart Kettlewell) a line was crossed and because of that he stopped.
“So it’s clearly for me that I’m here, that I want to fight for this club. I want to get the results that we had the week before to continue to develop this team and to make it better and not to get results like that again.
“So it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt that moment.”
Philippe Clement responds to Rangers sack calls
Philippe Clement also refused to bite as one journalist grilled the Rangers manager over fans wanting him gone from Ibrox.
The defeat to Queen’s Park is a seismic one in Rangers history and there’s been a suggestion that Clement doesn’t quite understand the gravity of the loss.
When told that many Rangers fans would be ‘disappointed’ that he was still manager, the Ibrox boss was asked how he will operate amid the swell of negativity.
“It’s about getting the results,” said Clement.
“Like I said, I had a lot of great moments with these fans, with results and I know they’re not happy about this season and about going out of the cup.
“So I’m going to do everything in my ability to make things better here in the club, with the team and around the team because there is also a lot of work to be done.“
When the journalist suggested the defeat to Queen’s Park was the ‘final act’ for many fans, Clement responded: “That’s what you say.
”I’m here to give my best in everything to get the team ready for the game against Hearts, to work hard for that and my focus is on the next game.”
