Philippe Clement demands Rangers repeat Celtic title race trick as he declares dressing room is now ‘calm’

Philippe Clement has watched Rangers hunt down Celtic once before—now the Ibrox gaffer has challenged his men to do it all over again.

The big Belgian launched the Light Blues on a remarkable comeback mission when he was appointed last October, overturning a seven-point deficit inherited from flop boss Michael Beale. However, his side find themselves back on the chase after damaging slip-ups in Dingwall and Dundee this month allowed Brendan Rodgers’ Parkhead pacesetters to leap three points clear.

Gers do, though, have the opportunity to pile the pressure back on the Hoops tomorrow, with Rodgers side due to kick-off at Dens Park following Rangers showdown with St Mirren in Paisley. And Clement sees no reason why his team can’t repeat what they’ve already done. He said: “If we look back at the last six months working here together, we’re the “We took four points more than Celtic in that period. I think everybody in the club would have signed for that six months ago — nobody believed that would be possible.

“It’s now repeating that again. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s something they’ve proven, and now they need to prove it again in the next six games. The team has already done a good job by coming back from that far and getting more points than a team that was leading by seven.

“Were we happy with the week at Ross County and Dundee? No, totally not. Not me, not the players, nobody. But all the other things are now calm, and that showed against hearts. They are clearly the third-best team in the league.

“They came with full motivation to the Scottish Cup semi-final. I read all the articles before the game about how much confidence they had because we were on a bad run and they were on a really good run. But we won that game and deserved to win it. We need to continue what we’ve been doing, game by game.”

Clement has Helicopter Sunday hero Alex Rae on his coaching staff and has been getting a history lesson on the dramatic last-day events that saw Gers claim their most celebrated title back in 2005. Alex McLeish’s side responded to defender Marvin Andrews’ “keep believing” rally cry that year, and Clement hopes his team adopts a similar mantra.

He said, “Alex told me he became champion in the last four games when he was five points behind. So everything is possible. I won’t ask the players to believe in God!

“But of course, there is every reason to keep believing. When you take that amount of points and you can come back in that way and be in this position now, what reason do you have to not believe? That would be really silly, I think.

“So it’s about continuing what they’ve been doing with the same determination and resilience, time and time again. But we don’t have time to make a mistake in the results. We just need to focus on giving our absolute best in every game to get the most from it. It’s about that and nothing more.”

Meanwhile, Clement confirmed that Gers have offered John Lundstram a new deal and told the club’s other out-of-contract stars they still have time to earn an extension. As well as Lundstram, Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack, Kemar Roofe, Leon Balogun, and Jon McLaughlin are all heading into the final months of their current agreements, as are loanees Abdallah Sima, Oscar Cortes, and Fabio Silva.

Asked if he’d decided who would be getting fresh terms, Clement said, “In large part, yes. But there are still six games to convince in another way. Maybe somebody we could not count on enough from last season plays the next six games and is the best guy on the pitch. It is silly not to have a contract. Everything is still possible. It’s in their hands.”

On Lundstram, he added: “There have been offers from the club; there is no agreement yet. That is the only thing I can say for the moment. I hope that he stays. I know he loves the club. I know he loves to be here.

“It depends on what you can offer as a club and what other clubs are offering in this situation. That is why I don’t like that important players are at the end of their contracts, and we talked about that already a few times. I don’t think it is a good thing for a club. It is something that will never happen again in the period that I am here, for sure.”

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