Clement details Rangers transfer state of play and Igamane

Read more: Check all the Rangers transfer news & rumours throughout the transfer window

How is everyone?

We have one doubt tomorrow from the squad at the weekend, Leon Balogun. He felt something at the end of the game. He didn’t train today and we will see how he is tomorrow. The rest all came out well from the game. It is a really short turnaround. Today was the second day so in training it’s more about recovery because it’s still less than 48 hours after the game. It is about making the choices tomorrow on who to start, knowing that for several positions there can be interchange and it is about who to put in at that moment. You need to make good decisions on what you need at the beginning of the game and also at the end of the game, and extra time is a possibility too. There are interesting choices to make.

Nsiala and Igamane?

Clinton is training and Hamza is doing part of the training with the group, so step by step he is going to the physical level that we need in training and later in the games. He is showing a lot of interesting things with the ball, which we saw from him in the games we saw in Morocco. He is settling in well. And with the language he is starting to learn his first English words and he is feeling really happy and grateful to be here. He is very determined to become a big player here.  

How important is the Champions League for your budget and planning?

It is not about being on schedule, I think it can make things happen faster. Going to the Champions League is not budgeted and that is the best way because some teams have done that in the past and they had really big financial problems out of that. We can’t do that, clearly. Of course if you can go to the Champions League it will give you another budget, although it is only in the last hours of the transfer market at the moment. But it will be an important thing, for sure for the future windows at the club. We will do everything to succeed but you look at the group of teams all playing for that, there are a lot of teams in there with a bigger budget than ours. That is the reality. But we are going to go really hard to qualify in that way. But let’s first focus on the Kyiv game first because we need to win that one first.

Do you have control of the tie?

I don’t think we have command of the tie. I think it’s two teams really at the same level. The team did really well in Kyiv tactically and it’s not easy with new players, with players coming back from injury to be that good in that game. I was really pleased about that. And scoring in the last minute was a deserved goal because in the end we had more shots on target than them. Of course you want a goal faster but there was also a really good goalkeeper on the other side who had a lot of international games and experience with Ukraine. He had a few really good saves. One from Cyriel early in the second half from a very good header to the far post was a really top quality save also.’

Will your approach differ from the first game? 

Yes we will do some different things. Things we saw we will put more focus on. I don’t know what they’re going to do – maybe they are going to sit more and hit on the counter attacks or transitions. I don’t know but we need to be prepared for the different scenarios. It’s a really good footballing team, like they showed against Partizan. I think we took a lot of that out by being compact and good pressing as a team. But they are also really dangerous on set pieces for sure and also really good in transitions. So it’s a team with a lot of experienced guys and young talents. 

What will the atmosphere be like at Hampden?

I hope like at Ibrox. I hope that the fans feel already more at home. The first time is always like the first day at school when you feel a little uncomfortable. For a lot of people it will be the second time now and I hope we can create an Ibrox atmosphere at Hampden also. It would be a huge achievement from the fans to sit a little bit further away from the pitch and to still create the same atmosphere. I hope they can get there and we are going to give everything on the pitch to give them something to be enthusiastic about. That’s our role of course, it’s not a one way street.

 What difference would play-off round money make to your transfer budget? 

Not so much I think. I don’t think it will be a big difference. But I said last time also that I’m not an accountant here at the club. I am not the one who says. ‘Okay we spend £200,000 here and we get £100,000 there.’ We had really clear talks about that and a clear plan before we entered the transfer window. Other people decide where to spend the money. Of course I give my priorities in positions, but I focus on the team and the staff and making everything really good here with the players available. We will see if other names come up that we will get with qualities and make choices that way.

Is Jose Cifuentes set to leave the club?

I see everything in the newspapers also. I didn’t hear anything that something is done with somebody. That is a pity. We have several here still in the building, or like Cifu not in the building, and because of that also it stops to get other players. For the moment I didn’t hear that somebody officially is going somewhere else.

Is it proving difficult to get players out so you can get players in?

It is not the nicest thing but you need to adapt. I told you, I am not the accountant. And the club don’t ask me to pay for everything. I know my role in the story and the role in the story is to get the best out of the squad that is here and to make the squad better for the future, to make it better also that we have more players that have the capability to grow here and gain interest from other clubs to sell them for the future. That plan is clear and I know my role in that.

Do you think the squad is stronger than it was at the end of last season?

I don’t want to make those comparisons now. Ask me that question… Not on the September 1 but give me a few days after.

How important is it to get players out if they aren’t going to stay at Rangers?

I cannot say that anybody affects the training pitch or the atmosphere because then it is easy to put them out of the building also. That has not been the case. Everybody who has been training here was with the right attitude and also in the right way in the dressing room. I had a talk with the captain group about that a while ago that they had to keep an eye on that and give me signals if it is not the case. It is not. There are no problems around that.

How reassuring is it to hear that Jack sees his future here?

It is important and it shows also that we are in a good way because people with that quality, and they feel that the story is not going the right way, they step out of the story and will have several other opportunities. Jack feels what is going on inside the building, what is going on inside the club and the squad, how things are evolving here in every sense. Things that fans cannot see because they only see the game and the result, and you guys also. It is a really big signal I think that somebody after his season and with his quality is saying that. I think it is a really symbolic thing.

Is Liam Kelly pushing him?

It is not like I see suddenly now that Jack is two times better than he was last season. That would have been difficult because then it would be really difficult to keep him. It doesn’t work that way. Liam is already important in the squad. He is very active in all the meetings, he is talking a lot with the players, helping the young guys with tactical things. He is really involved in the story and somebody with a Rangers heart.

Is Cerny the standard of player you want to bring in?

Of course. That is logical. You have ideas in your head how you want to play football and he is the kind of player, the creative one, that can make a difference. We need to raise our quality there. We spoke a lot about efficiency there last season and we are working hard on that. Players are making really good steps in that. One example, six months ago if Ross played on the right side he never came into shoot in his left foot. He never did it a year before. But we have been working on that the last couple of months, he is conscious of it, he is very motivated and that's why he got a good shot in Kyiv and hit the post because it is getting more and more natural but it takes time. With all the players, doing different things next to their collective training. Of course Vaclav is experienced, who went through this trajectory to become a better player and so I hope to get a few more like that, it makes everybody's life easier.

Is the Champions League more about prestige than pounds?

As a player as a manager it is about competing with the best. That is why I always like to be in the Champions League, as a player or a manager, it is the nicest place to be. It I also the most challenging place for players also because they can compete against the best and all the spotlight of the world is on them. So that is the main thing. As a club you need to look at both. You need to look at the exposure and the tradition and want to be there but the finance is really important in football and I think this club knows this club knows this really well after what happened 12 years ago. So is it is really important to keep a good balance in those things and nor make silly fouls that you come into trouble. The club is really conscious, I know that and together we want to create a really good story, a strong story for the future but it is not a story you can write in three or four weeks so we are working on that. The Champions League can make the story go faster.

Will you have a different approach?

It is going to be crucial because they are lethal in that, they are really fast, good technical players and have a striker who finds depth fast and you also have the midfielders and wingers, even the full-backs. It is a team you have to be on your toes all the time otherwise you get into trouble. Those are the tough games and the players need to be ready for that and be switched on and I hope the fans help to push us through the difficult moments.