Breaking News: Philippe Clement Propels Rangers Past Celtic’s Hurdles, Declares Hugh Keevins
Our man reckons the Belgian has a managerial presence not seen at Ibrox since the late Walter Smith.
If Rangers fail to go top of the Premiership table at the third attempt, Celtic supporters might begin to think there’s divine intervention at work.
Philippe Clement’s side had a chance to achieve that landmark when they played Aberdeen and Ross County over the last two midweek round of fixtures. In Perth they’ll be facing a St Johnstone side so mediocre their manager Craig Levein felt compelled to issue a public apology for the poverty of their performance while losing to Dundee last weekend.
They should be a push over for a side with seven straight league wins on the bounce behind them. And I don’t believe that Clement, no matter what he says to the contrary, didn’t check the league table first thing this morning to see what was necessary for his side to assume the ascendancy over Celtic. It would be a dereliction of duty if a manager didn’t have a photographic image of league placings, goal difference and anything else on the road to the title.
But I suspect that’s the only topic of conversation on which I could contradict autonomous Phil. Every time he opens his mouth he proves there are no targets too taboo whether it’s the Ibrox hierarchy, the players or even the fans.
What about Wednesday night’s rebuke for supporters’ anxieties getting across to the team on the park? “If you live the life of fans on the field then you’ll not reach your goals,” he said. No attempt at subtlety. Straight between the eyes. That’s because Clement has assumed a managerial presence at Ibrox unequalled since the late Walter Smith was in charge.
Having known and admired Smith over a long number of years, that is not a comparison I make lightly – but Clement grows ever more impressive in a way Walter himself would not have failed to notice. When Willie Collum was appointed to the Scottish Cup tie with Ayr United, Clement said he wasn’t interested in anything that had gone before involving the ref and Rangers, including the club’s request that the match official be disqualified from future games involving them.
Philippe was not consulted by the board over the handling of that affair but said: “I will be the next time.” Not “could,” but “will be.”
And Clement finished up by saying: “It’s important not to live in the past.” The past being a postcode for too many in the Old Firm’s world of fevered rivalry.
It was a request on the same level of unfathomable logic as asking for every game to begin with Rangers being awarded a goal start. Wiser counsel, such as Clement would have provided if he had been asked, would have known that to be the case. Clement has an air of authority that’s invested in him by the fact he is now invaluable to Rangers.
His mind isn’t cluttered up with all of the nonsense about institutionalised bias and agendas. And a clear mind gives him clarity of thought. He has a degree of continental sophistication in the same way that Ange Postecoglou had Aussie smarts and called people “mate” to signal the fact he’d been asked a daft question.
When you’re not afflicted by a preoccupation with external noise you can get on with your work. The only problem Rangers have is that, like Ange at Celtic, high-profile success means a bigger club will eventually take notice of him.
Meantime, Rangers have kept vaulting hurdles under his leadership while Celtic’s season has become an obstacle course. If Clement takes his team to the top of the league table it might take divine intervention to remove them.