Philippe Clement revealed how heart-to-heart talks with dejected Vaclav Cerny helped the Rangers winger bounce back from his Lyon sitter to shoot down St Johnstone.
The Czech ace was the Light Blues’ Europa League fall guy on Thursday night as he failed to take advantage of a gaping goal before Gers crashed 4-1 to the Ligue 1 gains. But the on-loan Wolfsburg winger responded in the perfect manner as his brace gave Clement’s 10-man side – who had returning playmaker Ianis Hagi sent off 10 minutes from the end – a morale-boosting win.
The Belgian said: “I’m really happy for Vaclav, because from the first moment he came into this club, he’s been working really hard. He was really down after Thursday, by missing that chance. He felt really responsible because he knew it was a really important moment in the beginning of the game. If you score there, you have a totally different momentum and it can be a different game. He talked about that with me, and it was a really open and good talk.
“But he didn’t lose any of my confidence. He showed what I wanted to see, after the disappointment, to react and to keep composure and not start to doubt. So I’m really happy for him with two quality goals.
“He’s going to get more and more important minutes and moments the next couple of months, because he’s just in the building and starting to get to know the rest of the team. I’m really pleased with him, not only as a football player, but also as a person.”
Cerny walked off with a smile but there was frustration for Hagi as his first run out in a Gers strip since August 2023 ended early. The Romania star has been frozen out this season amid a contract wrangle but was finally given the green light to re-join Clement’s first-team after sacrificing a wage rise he was due.
Introduced at half-time, he had an immediate impact as he teed up Cerny’s second goal. But he was given his marching orders late on after a crude challenge on Saints striker Benjamin Kimpioka.
Clement admitted: “It’s a clear red card. There’s no intensity in the tackle, it’s more a clumsy challenge from a player who’s tired at that moment. Ianis didn’t have any intentions to tackle in that way. It was unlucky, but it’s a clear red card.
“I don’t think it will be a big suspension, because you see it’s not with big intensity, and it’s more of an unlucky one, but it’s a clear one. You see also that he lacks rhythm, and that’s normal in this moment, so I hope he can get minutes with the national team, that he can come back with good health, and that we can work really well with him in the next few weeks and months to get him to his best level.”
Gers head into the international break now but Clement hopes to have a few of his injured stars back when they return to face Kilmarnock away on October 20. He added: “I expect in training to have Danilo and Ridvan Yilmaz maybe, and the two others [Rabbi Matondo and Cortes] not yet, it’s too early for them. With Oscar, that’s going to be longer term.”
Saints had new boss Simo Valakari watching from the stands. But stand-in gaffer Andy Kirk reckons the Finn will have been pleased with what he saw from the struggling Perth outfit.
He said: “We were up against a very strong team. The players knew the new manager was in the stand watching so it was obviously them trying to impress as well.
“There’s definitely positives we can take from that game and the fact that the new manager will be able to work pretty soon and he’s got to see the players’ lives and what he’s got to do and hopefully we can improve.”