It takes more than just talent to be a success for Rangers, there needs to be a fearlessness and mental toughness, something that Todd Cantwell found out early in Philippe Clement’s reign.
The Gers boss isn’t shy when it comes to making early changes, however, against Aris Limassol, he had seen enough after just 30 minutes and hooked the Light Blues playmaker.
It was an incident that the media tried to fan the flames of but Rangers saw a side to Philippe Clement that quickly made them realise what type of manager we had on our hands and so did Todd Cantwell, as reported by The Scotsman.
Rangers have a proper manager as Todd Cantwell reflects
The situation was nipped in the bud by Clement when he chose to praise Cantwell for playing out of position rather than berate him for not following instructions:
“No problem with Todd. He did a good job in the last couple of weeks. Today was less good so another guys comes in and does the job for the team and we are a team together. No problem.”
There is something very similar to Walter Smith with the way that Clement conducts himself.
Smith had a dressing room full of big personalities but never let them think that they were ever bigger than the club.
A message that Clement has obviously passed onto Todd Cantwell and the rest of the squad:
“No player wants to be that player, listen, me and the manager have had a lot of conversations and I have got a lot of respect for the manager.
“I think he is a good person as well as a good manager.
“For me personally, in football you have to hide your ego a little bit sometimes and you have to understand that things aren’t always done for your best interest, it is the club’s best interest.
“I think we have got a manager on our hands who cares very, very much about the club.”
Clement shares qualities of legendary Rangers manager
Players know exactly where they stand with Clement, as they did with the legend that is Walter Smith.
The message is clear – win.
How they get there is built on basic fundamentals of team first, attitude, effort, determination and bravery.
That is the philosophy, not a specific style of play.
Under Philippe Clement, we have seen direct football but we have also seen patient possession and persistence.
The start might have been a bit rocky with Cantwell having to play out of position but, after the winter break, the Rangers number 13 was on fire before an unfortunate hamstring injury saw him miss several weeks.
Cantwell is the on-field persona of Clement’s ethos of hard work and bravery.
Not everything comes off, but it doesn’t mean that he will ever stop trying to make something happen.
That’s six goal contributions in his last 10 league games under the Gers boss proving that, if your attitude is right, Clement will put his trust in you.
A repeat of last April’s Old Firm display would see Cantwell walking off to a standing ovation, with the memory of Aris, long since forgotten.
