Philippe Clement’s bottle crashed against Queen’s Park at the weekend – and he threw Bailey Rice under the bus to try and save his own skin.
That’s the view of our man Keith Jackson who tore into the Rangers boss for his ‘shameful’ substitution antics on Thursday’s Hotline Live. Clement watched his team crash out of the Scottish Cup against the Championship side in one of their worst ever results at the weekend and it came after a number of eyebrow-raising decisions on the touchline.
They were locked at 0-0 at half-time when Clement hooked youngster Rice, in for his first senior start. He also took off Nedim Bajrami for Cyriel Dessers, and on the hour mark he withdrew Ianis Hagi – a decision which sparked the ire of frustrated fans.
That fury hit another level on full-time when none of the substitutions managed to change the game in their favour and they crashed out of the cup, all-but ensuring they’ll end the season without a domestic trophy. And our man Keith Jackson didn’t hold back when asked about it on today’s live show.
He said: “My theory is that the nervousness came from the manager down. I think he got into that dressing room and it was his bottle that was starting to crash. It was his senses that were starting to become scrambled, his head that was clouding over. The decision to replace Bailey Rice at half-time was an indication that ‘we’re in trouble, and I’m starting to panic.’
“He actually said the tempo improved in the second half! No it didn’t, not in the game I was watching. It went the other way. To me, it looked as if a nervousness had set in. Whatever he said in that dressing room, the players went out there terrified for the second half.
“Then, in a peak of anger, he pulls off Hagi because he’d misplaced a pass. Hagi was consistently looking like the one player who could unlock the Queen’s Park defence.
“He pressed the panic button, he made the changes. God knows what young Bailey Rice is feeling like, the fall guy for that. Clement is saying he’s here to develop young players, give them a chance and put a value on him. Bailey Rice might take a while to recover from that, who knows what damage that’s going to do to that boy?
“I think that’s shameful. I think he had a responsibility, even if he thought he needed Raskin for more energy and more experience, he had a responsibility to at least let Rice get the first 10 or 15 minutes of the second half. By taking him off, he’s almost put a target on the young boy’s back. It’s shameful, and he’s done it to protect himself, which makes it double shameful.”
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