Philippe Clement has given his reaction to the Rangers fan confrontation he was met with outside of Ibrox a couple of weeks ago.
Raging supporters turned up at the stadium to vent their anger after watching Rangers lose 3-0 to Celtic at Parkhead on their televisions.
The Light Blues were outclassed despite an encouraging opening 10 minutes and the gap between the two arch-rivals has never felt wider than it does now.
Clement was seen responding to raging punters at Ibrox after the derby demolition and has now told reporters what it was like to experience.
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Philippe Clement’s verdict on Rangers fan fury
Speaking at the Rangers Training Centre ahead of the clash against Dundee United on Sunday, Clement said: “Yeah it’s already a long time ago. It’s never a nice moment to lose against your rivals and for sure not with the 3-0, so I understand the frustration.
“We had the same frustration and the anger inside of us so in a way, you understand things but in another way, it depends on what words are used in that way.
“So that happened in the heat of the moment that night. I’ve been now ten to twelve days longer in Glasgow after it and I met a lot of fans who reacted in a totally different way and were very positive and supportive about the team and club.
“So it’s in the heat of the moment. It’s not things that you like or love but it happened.” Asked if he believes he has the backing and trust of the fanbase, Clement replied: “Of course, 100 per cent yes.”
‘Positive’ Clement pleads for patience
Clement went on to explain that because of how big the turnover of players was during the summer, he needs time to get his new team functioning well together.
He went on: “I don’t know how many times I need to repeat that message because I don’t want you guys (the press) to get bored.
“But we spoke about the end of the cycle last year, 16 players left the club and the average age of the players who left was around 28. We brought 11 players in and the average age is around 23 so that’s already a big difference.
“But you need time to work with the boys, football is not just putting 11 players on the pitch and hoping they do something.
“So you need to work on a lot of things and get connections on the field and off the field but also the timings, when to run, how to run, where to run, how to play a ball. So there’s a lot of things to be done and that needs time.
“I see a very energetic young group with a lot of hunger and potential and I’m very positive about the story and to work with them, make them better and work as a team.
“The team has shown good things in moments and the team also had difficult things in moments the last couple of weeks and now it’s about making as least mistakes as possible.”
