Philippe Clement on catching Celtic and the power of Rangers fans

Can the Govan club catch Celtic in the Premiership this season? Will he have money to strengthen his squad in January? Why have James Tavernier and his team mates performed so poorly in the 2022/23 campaign? Can he turn things around with his current squad? How will he get the fans back onside?

Here is what Clement, whose first game as Rangers manager will be against Hibernian in the league at Ibrox on Saturday, had to say in full.

What are your short and long term objectives as Rangers manager?

My short term and long term targets are always to win. I am about that. That is my life, it has always been my life. That is what I want. There are a lot of things we can make better. But it is going to be a process week by week to make things better.

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When I watched the games this season, I saw moments of frustration, that the players really wanted it. But they started to do the wrong things because their expectations were so high, those of the fans also. We need now to create a very stable story together so that we can play good football and get good results.

The previous two Rangers managers lasted less than a year. What assurances did you seek during your talks with the board?

A I believe in the potential that this club has. I believe also in the people I have talked with in the last couple of weeks. It was very genuine talk, very clear. We talked about things they have struggled with, about the things they think that need to be changed. I spoke with them about the things I thought could have been better after seeing the games. We were aligned about that.

We talked about a lot of things and that gave me the feeling that this is the right club to be at now. We know we have a lot of work to do, but we are very motivated to change several things as fast as possible.

How important are the first few weeks in terms of how the Rangers fans perceive you?

I just work really hard day and night with the players to get the best out of them. Then you need to get results on the pitch. Sometimes you have lucky days, sometimes you have unlucky days. I am somebody who looks past that. I know that it needs a bit of time to implement everything, that is normal.

We speak about players moving together, we speak about offensive football. You need a lot of training around that before it becomes natural for the players. Sometimes it comes fast, sometimes it takes a little more time. In the end, there have been good games and results everywhere I have been. I know it will come.

How do you view the challenge of overcoming Celtic? You are seven points behind them in the Premiership?

It is not an advantage, of course, to be seven points behind. That is clear. But I think the major thing for the next weeks and maybe months is that we need to be focused on ourselves.

For me, a season is like a marathon. It is no use to look at this guy that is running in front of you all the time. Then you try to chase with one big sprint and you do not have the legs to do the marathon and you kill yourself.

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No, you need to focus on yourself, on your pace. It needs to be faster than before, better than before. But you have to do all the marathon. It is not about the next two or three games, it is about a lot of games this season in a lot of competitions.

We need to look at all those things, we need to focus on ourselves, not on other teams. We need to make our story better and better and better. Then you get results in the end. Always.

What needs to improve?

I know all my colleagues will be watching so I won’t give them more material! I know more than before because I’ve started to get to know the players better. It’s my job with the staff and players to make things better. There are quite a lot of things to do otherwise we would not be in this situation.

What are your initial impressions of the squad?

At the moment, I have not seen it in total as a lot of players have been away at international games. We saw part of the squad and trained with several young players from the academy. This is an important part of the job - to bring through young players, to develop them, to give them chances and grow step by step. I’ve done it with all my teams.

We started to implement the first parts of the football we want to play. But we don’t have all the players back. The team that will start on Saturday was not on the pitch today.

What are your goals this season?

I want to win everything. That’s the mentality I have when I step into a building. And I want to give this to the dressing room and create more and more winners. We’ll work really hard to get silverware as fast as possible. How fast it comes? I don’t have a crystal ball, I’m not a magician. But I know if we can work long-term with players we can make them better. We talked about that a lot. How do to it?

It was a really interesting talk with Graeme (Souness) and the board. It was to the point. Not only will we do it, but how? We talked a lot about the holistic way, of creating better athletes and football players and stronger mentalities.

It can go really fast with this squad when they get confidence and the fans are behind them. It’s a really important thing in this club when the fans are behind you. This gives you so much energy and you become so much stronger in every sense as a football player.

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This synergy between fans and players is going to be one of the major points over the next couple of weeks. It’s about me explaining this to the players and doing the right things on the pitch. I hope that the fans understand that and know how much power they have when they go behind players in a positive way.

What sort of football should Rangers fans expect your team to play?

I like dominant football. I did it at my first team SK Beveren. They played against relegation, but we also played dominant football with them. In the beginning, nobody believed that would be possible. But I saw they had the qualities to play attacking football with interchanging positions, for people to create space for others out of a good structure. You don’t want too many transitions and stupid goals because you’re not thinking about your structure.

Who will make up your backroom staff?

I have spoken with Steven (caretaker manager Davis) over the last few days. For him, it is a totally new job and fresh start after being a player. It is a totally different job. He now knows that. We were laughing about how it is a different way of life to be being a player.

He is someone who has always led by example, and he is taking his first steps into coaching life. I have also been in that situation many years ago. It is important to give people like that, with the knowledge of the game and with the connection to the club, chances. We will see over the next weeks and months what is the best role for him to start this new adventure.

Will James Tavernier remain captain?

I do not see a reason to change that. I need to focus on many other things at the moment and step by step need to look at what is best for the club. But I do not see a reason for the moment to change that.

What conversations did you have bout strengthening your squad in January and the summer?

It was a part of it. But I like to see first what the potential is there already. I don’t want 10 new players every year and to make lots of changes. I want to find the key to get the best out of people. We want to use the next weeks and months to do that in the best way. With me, every player starts with a blank slate. Maybe not with the fans, but that's a different conversation. They'll all get the chance.

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It is important to be aligned with the sporting director and have the same ideas about football. If it is someone who has totally different ideas about football then it does not work. We spoke about that also in the process. We had really clear conversations about that. It is good that everyone is aligned.

How do you instil confidence in the players?

It is about putting the right goals towards games and the right things they have to do. I want players who are also not afraid to fail and make mistakes because that is part of football. There is not one team in the world who are perfect in everything they do. But they react correctly to mistakes. Those are things to work on.

We do not have much time. We will see the team for two days and then we have the game. So I do not expect it to be perfect yet. But out of that we can work on the things that are good and not so good and try to make things better. It is not science, it is logical things. We need to get all these things in place.

What qualities do you want the players to show?

For me, there are four very important pillars. I want to create in the club the best technical team, the best tactical team, the best physical team and the best team mentally of the league. That is what  want to create over the next couple of months. I know if you do that, then results will follow. But I know it is a lot of work.