Philippe Clement Brushes off Rangers Praise but Boss Admits Viaplay Cup Glory has made him ‘Hungry for more’

At Hampden, the Belgian netted his first Rangers silverware at the first attempt.

After winning his first Rangers trophy just 64 days after moving to Ibrox, Philippe Clement claimed that his players should take all the credit for the team’s turnaround.

The Viaplay Cup was won by James Tavernier’s goal in the 76th minute against Aberdeen at Hampden. While his team was basking in the glory of their fans, the Belgian was instructing them to savor the occasion but prepare to resume their league campaign on Wednesday night against St Johnstone.

Clement said: “I’m really happy and proud also. If I see the path that the team has taken in the last nine weeks, everyone sees a team who is growing. It is not easy after a historic win on Thursday, in an away game in Seville with the travelling and everything, to have the same focus that they had today. That was a main thing for me also and they did a brilliant job.

“But it is my job to keep everybody’s feet on the ground. This evening they can enjoy and then tomorrow I will be the strict one again!

“It creates a certain hunger for more. That is my mentality and always how I have been. I see this more and more in the dressing room. It doesn’t mean we are going to win all the games all season, that is not realistic.

“But we need to push to win all the games all season and to try to get that. If you have this mentality with the way we want to play football, the way everything is analysed with the quality we have, we can do really good things.”

Rangers have won all 14 of their games under Clement, and he insists the players he selects each week deserve the credit. “It’s about the players, not about me,” he declared. They succeeded. I didn’t make a single tackle, sprint, or ball kick. The players are to blame.

“We have done it together with a lot of people, with the players, the staff. It’s not only me. I’m the one who speaks a lot to you guys, but there are a lot of people in the dressing room working hard with the players and doing the right things. I’m a guy who needs more of a helicopter view to see if things are going well. That’s going to be my role in the next couple of months.”

Clement issued a message to the Ibrox support, who celebrated the first League Cup victory since 2011.

“Keep this happiness – and see how much the players want it. I know the synergy was a bit gone not such a long time ago.

“I hope also this gives some credit for the difficult moments that will come in the season and that the fans stick behind

“That promise I can make. If they push the team through the difficult moments, we can do extra things.”

Rangers now trail Celtic by five points but with two games in hand and Clement wants three points from Wednesday’s visit of St Johnstone. He said: “This week was a sprint, all or nothing for the Europa League or the Conference League, although we knew we would have something. This was really a sprint, all or nothing. We managed to do that really well.

It’s a marathon for the championship. It’s been a while. During a marathon, we just need to concentrate on ourselves—not on the individuals in front of or behind us. That is unimportant. It concerns us. It’s all about finding that cadence and rhythm. We are limited to doing that. There is a lot of work to be done.

the participants. since I have one pledge to make. The players who have put in a lot of work over the week will always be on the field.

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