Best is yet to come – Philippe Clement promises response after Old Firm humbling

Posted Sunday, September 01, 2024 by PA

Rangers manager Philippe Clement claimed there was much more to come from his side following their 3-0 defeat at Celtic and vowed they would show that in the New Year fixture.

Celtic are already five points ahead of Clement’s side in the William Hill Premiership and have only suffered one defeat in 13 against their city rivals, that loss coming in May 2023 after they had already wrapped up the title.

However, Clement pointed to a bright start as evidence his side can bridge the gap and bemoaned early misses from Cyriel Dessers and Rabbi Matondo, although the former was flagged offside.

Best is yet to come – Philippe Clement promises response after Old Firm humbling — Goalscorers Callum McGregor, centre, and Kyogo Furuhashi, left, lead the Celtic celebrations at full-time against Rangers (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside against Nicolas Kuhn before Daizen Maeda swept home a 17th-minute opener after meeting Alistair Johnston’s cutback.

Long-range strikes from Furuhashi and Callum McGregor took the game well beyond Rangers but Clement is adamant there are better times ahead after what he described as a “massive rebuild” during the summer.

“You need to be clinical in these games, and to go in front changes the momentum,” said Clement, who suffered a fourth defeat in five games against Celtic.

“It would have helped the team a lot to go in front here. We need to be more clinical in those moments. It was the same in the second half.

“Celtic had 14 shots, we had 13. They had four on target, we had four on target. That’s a difference in efficiency. And of course, you give them a lot of confidence. If they go 1-0 in front and 2-0 in front, it’s always easier to play.

“But ball possession was also equal, 47-53, between the two teams.

“I was not happy with the reaction after the 1-0. It was not good enough. In the second half there was a better reaction. But you have to become more open as a team, because you need to chase two goals and take more risks. So that also creates chances for them.”

When asked if there was now a “gulf” in class, Clement said: “No, we will see in January. Celtic have some guys who are playing two, three years together. Of course there is more understanding between players.

“We are just at the start with a new squad. In that way, there were really positive things in the beginning of the game, but you need to kill off the game then and to score and then it can be another dynamic.

“Of course when it’s 3-0, you need to shut up and to accept that you lost and it was not good enough. So we’re going to work really hard the next couple of months to be much better in January.”

The Belgian added: “There’s still 34 games to go. We know we need to improve a lot of things and gel people together and get this understanding between players.

“The best is by far yet to come with this squad. I’ve seen a lot of good things in training, in the last games and also today in the beginning, in the reaction in the second half. But we need to reward ourselves.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers dismissed suggestions the margin of victory was a big statement.

“No, I think we’re only starting,” he said.

“For me, the pleasing aspect was the performance. That was what we’d said to the players. We want to always make it really difficult for every opponent that we play.

“It was a fantastic performance. We were electric going forward. But equally as pleasing is that we were defensively solid and strong and right to the very end.

“Overall, it was such a great day for us. It just continues the quality, the speed, the intensity with which we’ve been playing.”