Philippe Clement takes comfort from Rangers numbers but worrying trend shows he’s heading in same direction as Beale
Clement pointed to the fact the match stats were even but it’s other numbers he should be worried about
Philippe Clement likes to take comfort from the numbers after a disappointing result.
The Rangers boss trudged into the Parkhead media room and began trotting out the stats sheet detailing the story of yet another Old Firm loss. His side, he declared, had managed just one less shot than Brendan Rodgers’ jubilant champions, hit the target the same number of times and almost matched them in the possession stakes.
The trouble is that none of that came close to adding up to the result he and his club’s supporters crave. And you can bet the Ibrox faithful will take no solace at all from the figures laying out just how far behind they’ve now fallen their bitter rivals. They make for bleak reading. Gers have lifted three of the last 30 domestic trophies versus Celtic’s count of 22.
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It’s now two derbies wins in the last 16. The Parkhead side, meantime, have won 11 in that period. And when it comes to the all-time record in the fixtures, the Light Blues have now seen Celtic steal ahead with their 170th win having led the race for decades.
Philippe Clement reacts to Rangers 2-0 win over St Johnstone
As for Clement, he’s now gone five head-to-heads with the Hoops and is still no nearer to a first victory. His number isn’t up yet, certainly not after the Ibrox board in their wisdom decided to dish out a new four-year deal earlier this month. But Clement doesn’t need to be a mathematician to know improvements are required eventually if he’s to avoid being subtracted from the Ibrox equation.
The Belgian boss said: “We started the game really well. We had two really good opportunities, with Cyriel Dessers coming free in front of goal and Rabbi Matondo with a free header. So you need to be clinical in those games, and to come in front, it changes the momentum.
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“It would have helped the team a lot to go in front here. We did good things with the ball to create that, but we need to be more clinical in those moments. It was the same in the second half. Because at the end, Celtic had 14 shots, we had 13.
“They had four on target, we had four on target. But you lose 3-0. That’s really a clear result, and a difference in efficiency. And of course, you give them a lot of confidence.
“If they come 1-0 in front and 2-0 in front, it’s always easier to play. But ball possession was also equal today, 47-53, between the two teams. So I was not happy with the reaction after the 1-0. It was not good enough.
“There we went down in the first half, in the second half there was a better reaction. But you have to become more open as a team, because you need to chase two goals and take more risks. So that also creates chances for them. But on the other side, we also had 100 percent chances, but they need to be put away against them.
“Yeah, there are of course other details, and you can speak about some duels and some possession. But the momentum shifts with the 1-0 and for sure with the 2-0. Then Celtic are on the sofa, they have only to keep the ball and to wait for the moment you step out to use the space. So that creates a lot.”
Philippe Clement and Brendan Rodgers (Image: PA)
The numbers behind this result are trending in the same direction as the decline Rangers suffered last season when Michael Beale lost his job after a disastrous start. Losing last season’s opening derby left them seven points behind with seven played. This time Clement’s team are five adrift just four fixtures in. But the Light Blues gaffer said: “There’s still 34 games to go. We know at this moment we need to improve a lot of things and we need to gel people together and get this automatism between players.
“The faster the game goes, the higher the level is, the faster you have to make decisions. We need to create the next weeks, the next months, also this connection between players.
“It’s a normal thing. You saw also the moment that Celtic brought on a lot of players that they paid a lot of money for. It was not the same way of playing, although they have to do the same things from their manager.
“But they need to also come into this way of playing defensively, offensively, what to do together. It’s a normal thing in football. So we know we have a lot of work to do. We knew already two weeks ago, we knew four weeks ago, we knew two months ago and we’re going to do that.”
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Clement implored his team not to do anything daft before the match. Having failed to make the most of a bright start, they then compounded those mistakes up front by letting Celtic lose in their own box.
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“One week ago we scored six against Ross County, today not,” he said. “So it’s about working on that, doing that a lot of times and getting confidence out of that. I think the confidence before the game was there. If you look back at the first 10 minutes, the way we played, we were good on the ball, we were brave on the ball.
“It was not a kick and rush and hoping for something. There was good football there, creating good chances, even in the first minute. But yes, it was too easy (for Celtic to score) and we made defensive faults. But I think Brendan will say the same if we would have scored in these first moments in the beginning of the game. So that’s always the talk and the insight after an action. And these are the decisive actions.
“Even the second goal, it’s not really a big chance. It’s a shot from 30-35 yards out of the box. So for sure with the first goal, we could have done much, much better. But we had also those moments and you need to kill them off. And if you don’t do that, then you can get these questions about that.”
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