Fuming Jack Butland didn’t hold back after Rangers’ draw with Dundee United as they let more points slip through their fingers.
And some fans reckon that the brutally honest interview came with a swipe at Philippe Clement with previous post-match comments being taken as jabs between the two. The pressure cranked up a notch on the Belgian after the Light Blues lost their perfect Scottish Premiership home record at the hands of Jim Goodwin’s men.
And captain Butland – who took the armband with James Tavernier sitting on the bench – couldn’t hide his frustration while speaking to Rangers TV after the game. The Ibrox No. 1 said: “It can’t take until the second half to get going. We have got to be better. We are giving away too many easy goals against teams that are just looking to sit in and hold on to something. So, yeah, we have not won. We should never be drawing that game. It feels like a loss. These games have got to be wins.”
Asked if the disappointment came from not taking control of the game, Butland fired back: “It’s not that we didn’t take control, we didn’t do enough to take the game to them. They are coming here to try and get a result and be awkward, which is what teams are going to bring here. It needs more from us – then these goals don’t happen because we are in the ascendancy. We didn’t do that in the first half – and we have not done it enough first halves this season and made our lives difficult.”
Pressed on why that is, the England cap went on: “It’s not for the want of trying. It’s not for the (lack of) reminders. We just have to do it. It’s pointless speaking about it.
“It has just got to be done. It’s the standard. I hate having these conversations. It’s not what the fans deserve, it’s not what the ground staff deserve who go the game on. It’s not what the paying fans deserve from the game today. Yeah, I didn’t enjoy that.”
The harsh words come amid speculation among the punters over barbs between the two. After Lyon demolished Rangers in the Europa League, the 31-year-old declared a “different approach” was required.
Following that, Belgian boss Clement surprisingly laid the blame for the shock defeat to Kilmarnock at the feet of Butland. The shot-stopper was told he was in “no-man’s land” as Marley Watkins netted the winner last month.
The Ibrox diehards reckon that this is the latest chapter in tensions between the two, with one posting to X: “Jack bitting his tongue here, he’s raging with Clement.” Another fan added: “He looks scunnered and we’re the same Jack, get that manager gone!”
Another felt that the tirade was a dig at Clement’s tactics: “It’s quite clear Butland is f****** appalled with Clement’s tactics. He knows exactly how teams are going to play against us and he knows what we need to do, and that’s a dig at Clement’s tactics. (Clement) is single-handedly destroying us from the core.”
But the man himself knows the only way to end the murmurs – by winning. Looking to the Europa League clash with Nice and how to lift the squad, he said: “All you can do is win. It’s all that is accepted. It’s the only thing that’s good enough.”