Clement Crumbling: Rangers Boss Can’t Even Say ‘Celtic’ as Pressure Mounts

Philippe Clement has been scrambling to win over the Rangers support, a task made all the harder following his recent hammering at Celtic Park.

Just ten days after being confronted outside Ibrox by furious fans, Clement is still trying to explain his team’s dismal form. Since taking the reins at Ibrox, Clement has been in charge for five Glasgow derbies, managing a pitiful record of four defeats and a single draw. And that draw? It only came thanks to a last-minute worldie that saved Rangers from yet another loss to Celtic.

In his latest attempt to calm the storm, Clement attended an event to speak to Rangers fans directly. During the evening, Clement tried to defend the downward spiral his team has found themselves in, offering up a series of excuses and, unsurprisingly, struggling to even utter the word Celtic.

It’s becoming a bit of a habit at Ibrox—everyone there seems to be so traumatised by our dominance that they can’t even bring themselves to say the name of the club.

While pushing out his plan for patience to turn things around, Clement expressed his frustrations, saying: “It’s about working hard with the team and make them gel to create connections. The other side of the town have been building their squad for more than one year and playing together. It’s normal that they are ahead now. I hate that and I want to change that as fast as possible.” [RecordSport]

First off, Clement, Celtic aren’t just ahead now—they’ve been ahead for a long time. They were ahead before Clement arrived, and barring some Football miracle, they’ll still be ahead long after he’s gone. But credit to him for trying to paper over the cracks with the ol’ “it’s normal that they’re ahead” routine.

You can almost feel the pain when he says, “the other side of the town”—it must be rough, that constant reminder of who’s boss in Glasgow. While Clement might claim to hate Celtic’s success, there’s a much bigger issue at play here: Rangers are regressing under his watch, and there’s no clear sign of improvement.

No matter how hard Clement tries to justify it, the fact remains that he’s struggling to make his mark in the big Games, particularly against the club he can’t seem to name. The sooner he and his team face reality, the better—for their sake, at least.