Irked Philippe Clement was locked in a tense clash at his press conference after being told of mounting concerns from fans about Rangers “boring” football.
The Belgian is facing increased scrutiny in the wake of the Premiership defeat to Kilmarnock – which left Aberdeen and Celtic six points ahead of the Light Blues at the top of the table – going into Thursday’s Europa League clash with Steaua Bucharest. The style of play under the boss has been heavily criticised by the fans – with the fears from the Ibrox stand being relayed to the boss going into the clash with the Romanian champions
And one of the leading Rangers‘ fan media outlets put the concerns directly to the boss in a tense exchange – which only left the diehards with more questions than answers. Clement was asked: “One of the main complaints is Rangers’ style of football. Too many long balls, too many needless passes side to side. How do you respond to accusations that it’s too boring to watch?” Baffled Clement interjected: “Two totally opposite things that you say there. Long balls or sideways passing.”
The interviewer said: “The accusation from the fans is there’s too much of it and there’s no attack in play and they’re boring to watch. How do you respond to that?” Undeterred Clement went on: “No, but what you say now, is it too many long balls or is it too many sideways passes?” They responded: “It can be both…” Clement clapped back: “It’s about creating not enough chances. That’s the conclusion at the end. I agree with that in the Kilmarnock game.
“It was the case. In other games we created more chances, not in all the games until now. But you see also we’re starting to play with new players in that role who are just in the building. How long Is Nedim Bajrami here? Four weeks or something? Six weeks maximum. And in the six weeks he’s been three or four weeks away with the national team.
“So they’re just in the building. There are other players in other clubs who come to their better level now after the first six months that everybody said they were not good. So Nedim did already good things but of course you need to create these connections on the pitch more and more to get to know each other. Which moment to run, which moment to play deep, which moment to create a chance or the shot. We need to create these moments. We’re playing more and more together.”
The tetchy back and forth left the fans feaful of the response, with one posting to X: “You’re actually telling him what every fan is thinking – his team is boring and he thinks the opposite – wow.” Another added: “Trying to say it’s one or the other with regards to long balls or sideways passing is nonsense. Both can be true at the same time. Disappointed by his response if I’m honest.”
One punter had enough of hearing the same excuses, stating: “His players are just in building’ excuses have worn out. He’s clutching at straws. He’s a dead man walking.”
A Rangers fan added: “Never once heard him answer a question about his style with any sort of confidence. Mostly because he doesn’t have one to talk about.”