Philippe Clement discusses Willie Collum Ibrox’s return as a ref, Scott Brown’s “love,” and Dujon Sterling’s unsuccessful appeal as seven Rangers presser takeaways.

Prior to his team’s Scottish Cup match against Ayr United this coming weekend, Philippe Clement met with the media this afternoon.

The Rangers captain greets Scott Brown, a longtime opponent of his team, who is leading the Honest Men to Glasgow and anticipates a cold greeting from his former opponents.But after midfielder Dujon Sterling’s appeal was turned down after receiving a straight red card against Aberdeen in their midweek victory over the Dons, Clement had more on his mind than just his opponent.

The fact that Willie Collum is managing the match for the first time since he was in the VAR truck on December 30, when the Gers were refused a penalty against Celtic, and the club requested in a meeting with the SFA that the referee not be in control of their games going forward adds to the suspense.

Sterling appeal fail

“You have to accept judgments even when you don’t want to lose players. As I mentioned after the game, the referee’s job is to enforce the regulations and make sure that everyone has a fair and enjoyable game. Clarity is crucial for managers, players, and supporters. Additionally, this circumstance was not entirely evident, or else the VAR intervention to view the photographs would not have occurred. Alright, the decision has been made and we have no choice but to accept it.

“There are always gray areas in football; we’ve seen tackles in past games that were called yellow. Picking a side in the gray area is a tough task for a referee. One of the things I love most about football is that there’s always a lot of talk about it. Fans can create a lot of discussions, and you guys can write stories about it. I don’t mind when it goes against you. Although there should always be some degree of ambiguity, everyone may have assumed that once VAR was implemented, the ambiguity would vanish. That isn’t feasible because every action has a ton of subtleties. Since this was gray and worked against us, we must accept it.

Willie Collum’s return

“I’m glad to be sincere. If I ever felt that the referee wasn’t impartial, I would immediately resign from my position. I’m relieved that the past is behind us. Did I participate in the conversations? No. We’ve discussed that, so that’s something for the club.”

The masked man

“I expect Leon Balogun, who saw a specialist, to return next week, not today. Is it the weekend or Ross County? About that, I’m not sure. He needs that because he won’t be playing with a mask for very long. I have some expertise with adapting masks, so sometimes it takes a few sessions to get a really good fit so you can see everything and feel comfortable. Next week, we’ll see how everything develops.”

How he feels about player fitness now

“The term satisfied is challenging. Even though everyone on staff and on the squad gave it their all during the time allotted, I believe there is still much room for improvement across the board.

“We need a squad rotation since it’s hard to achieve that when there are only two games a week. Sometimes, players train more than they play, which makes my work harder, but I have to think long-term because that’s what the club needs right now. While spending a week in Glasgow and a week in La Manga was beneficial, we still need a few more of those kinds of weeks to improve, and we will do so.”

Pre-season plans and opponents already lined up

It’s a really significant matter, and it was in the past as well. It’s natural both tactically and physically, a move up to another level. You have a lot more options and can experiment more to discover what other things the gamers know. It is essential. We have already begun preparing games for the upcoming season and are quite active. We have a strong schedule, but right now I want to concentrate on tomorrow’s match and not get too caught up in summer preparations.”

Oscar Cortes and Mohamed Diomande ready to start vs Ayr?

“They are not yet prepared to play ninety minutes, but they are prepared to begin. That might thus happen, sure.”

His “love” for Scott Brown

“I love everyone who loves Rangers, and I’ve read that he does too. That may be incredibly beneficial for us to have on the sidelines as well.”

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