Philippe Clement urges Rangers to show they have the ‘hunger’ for more success
Posted Monday, December 18, 2023 by PA
Philippe Clement wants Rangers to go from strength to strength after winning his first trophy as Ibrox boss.
A 75th-minute strike from skipper James Tavernier proved enough to beat Aberdeen in the Viaplay Cup final at Hampden Park.
It was the first silverware for the Belgian manager since taking over from Michael Beale in October and ended a fine week for the Light Blues.
After beating Real Betis 3-2 away to clinch a place in the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday night, Celtic’s 2-0 cinch Premiership defeat at home to Hearts on Saturday gave a title boost to the second-placed Gers before they claimed the Viaplay Cup for the first time since 2011.
Asked if his side could now build on this success, Clement said: “I believe in that. I think if you feel this, it creates a certain hunger for more.
“That’s my mentality and it’s always how I’ve been and 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’s not realistic, but we need to push to win all the games.
“If you have this mentality with the way we want to play football, with the way everything is analysed, with the quality we have, we can do really good things.
“But football is always confirmation. If you have satisfaction for one moment and are happy with the way things are, you will go down.
“So in the next weeks and months I want to see this hunger and desire, to be better, to work hard, to be in the team and also the team mentality that is in the dressing room now.
“If I see the path the team has taken the last nine weeks, everyone sees a team that is growing.
“It is not easy after an historical win on Thursday in away game in Seville, with the travelling and everything, to have the same focus we had today. So that was a main thing for me and they did a brilliant job.
“Aberdeen are a hard team to beat, but in the end we deserved this victory.”
Clement praised Tavernier, who scored his 15th goal of the season, firing in at the back post after controlling a cross from fellow full-back Borna Barisic.
He said: “Very pleased. Not only for him but everybody, but Tav has shown really good quality in the last couple of weeks.
“He has been one of the leaders to push, to perform, to be important, to take responsibility in every moment.
“He has never hidden when we wanted to play, he has been important with assists and goals and we need to continue that story in the next couple of months.”
Dons boss Barry Robson praised his players for their valiant effort, saying: “The players gave me everything, that was clear.
“When you have Rangers Football club hanging in there at the end, kicking balls out the pitch, it showed you what we tried to do as a team.
“I said to them well done for giving us everything. They gave us every drop, every ounce.
“Rangers are a good side, they just beat Real Betis in Spain, you have to remember that.
“They are a really good team with a good manager. It is a proper team we were playing against.
“We had a go and I am just frustrated for the fans that we couldn’t get that ball over the line today.”
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