Rangers manager Philippe Clement found himself in a heated exchange during a recent press conference, as mounting concerns from fans about the team’s “boring” football were brought to his attention. The Belgian’s style of play has faced heavy criticism, especially following the team’s disappointing defeat to Kilmarnock, which left Rangers six points behind Aberdeen and Celtic at the top of the Premiership table.
As Clement prepared for Thursday’s Europa League clash against Steaua Bucharest, one of the prominent fan media outlets confronted him directly about the discontent among supporters. “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?” the interviewer asked.
Clement, visibly irked, responded, “Two totally opposite things that you say there. Long balls or sideways passing.”
The questioner pressed on, stating, “The accusation from the fans is there’s too much of it and there’s no attacking play, and they’re boring to watch. How do you respond to that?”
Undeterred, Clement countered, “No, but what you say now, is it too many long balls or is it too many sideways passes?” When the interviewer replied, “It can be both,” Clement retorted, “It’s about creating not enough chances. That’s the conclusion at the end. I agree with that in the Kilmarnock game.”
He continued, acknowledging the team’s challenges: “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.”
Clement emphasized the need for the team to develop chemistry on the pitch. “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 has already done good things, but of course you need to create these connections on the pitch more and more to get to know each other.”
The manager concluded with a call for patience, highlighting the importance of teamwork: “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.” As the pressure mounts, Clement’s focus remains on improving the team’s performance ahead of their upcoming fixtures.