Rangers were brave losers against Man Utd although Philippe Clement wasn’t happy with the consolation of praise for his team’s efforts.
The one thing the manager would have wanted was to have no more injuries to a squad that was already thin on the ground, however, luck wasn’t to be on his side.
By half-time Clement had already turned to the bench due to issues affecting areas of the park Rangers were short of numbers.
- READ MORE: Rangers player ratings vs Man Utd: 8/10 leader sets example as 2/10 has a high profile stinker
Philippe Clement dismissive as Rangers injury problems mount
Connor Barron and Leon Balogun both took knocks in the first half before Vaclav Cerny limped off in the second to add to the eight players already missing for various reasons.
When asked about the bodies piling up, the Gers boss said:
“Yeah, but what can I do if players get tackled and they get injuries?
“So yeah, you cannot do much about it, it’s about working hard with the medical staff to get them back and to see the next days, to make a good assessment towards the weekend or the weeks after.
“Those are things I don’t have any control over, so we need to work really hard with the medical department to get the players back and I need to be focused on the players who are here and integrate also new players or integrate players in different positions and to prepare them well, that they know what to do in those positions.
“That’s my part of the job.”
Does Clement deserve the criticism?
Yes, and no.
With hindsight, he shouldn’t have been so bold about being able to rid the club of the injury problem that has haunted it for the last few seasons given some of the players he inherited.
Changing managers, training intensity, training type, players joining a new club and players being injury prone are all factors – especially the latter.
Extra post and pre-match work in the gym can only do so much, as can the technology available to the conditioning staff and medical team.
One situation where Clement could hold his hands up is at centre-half, Leon Balogun should be no more than a back-up but keeps being thrown into games when he comes back from his latest injury.
Neraysho Kasanwirjo was signed as a rotational option despite having a series of knee injuries in his younger days.
Add this to John Souttar’s medical file and it’s obvious that the summer recruitment could have been better at centre-half.
The perception that the injuries haven’t improved is a false one, but what certainly hasn’t improved is Clement’s luck.
