Here's everything Rangers manager Philippe Clement had to say following his side's 3-0 Old Firm defeat against Celtic.

What was your take on the performance and result?

That we started the game really well. That we had the best of the ball in the first ten minutes, get two really good opportunities with Cyriel coming free in front of goal and with Rabbi with a free header there. So you need to be clinical in those games. To come in front changes the momentum. And it would have helped the team a lot to go in front here. We did good things with the ball to create that but we need to be more clinical in those moments. It was the same in the second half because at the end Celtic have 14 shots and we have 13, they had four on target, we had four on target. But you lose 3-0. That is really a clear result in difference in efficiency. Of course you give them a lot of confidence if they come 1-0 in front and 2-0 in front. It is always easier to play. Ball possession was also equal today at 47-53 between the two teams. I was not happy with the reaction after the 1-0, it was not good enough. Then we went down in the first half. Second half was a better reaction but you have to become more open as a team because you need to chase two goals and to take more risks so that creates more chances for them. On the other side we had really 100 per cent chances but they need to be put in the net.

What else did you need to see more of?

There are of course other details and you can speak about some duels and some possession but the momentum shifts with the 1-0 and for sure with the 2-0. Then Celtic only need to keep the ball and wait for the moments you step out to use the space. That creates a lot.

Do you not accept there is a big gap between the teams?

We will see in January. Of course it is a team and we spoke about that, Celtic are a team with this team that started playing already more than one year, some guys are playing two, three years together, so many times together. We are just at the start with a new squad, a new team. 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 is 3-0 you need to shut up in that moment and accept that you lost and that it was not good enough. We are going to work really hard in the next couple of months to be much better in January.


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Is the softness of the Celtic goals a concern?

Yes, it is too easy there. Defensive faults made. I think Brendan would say the same if we had scored in the first minutes of the game. That is always the talk and the insight after the action and these are the decisive actions. The second goal is not really a big chance, it is a shot from 30, 35 yards out. For sure the first goal we could have done much better. We also had those moments and you need to kill them off. If you don’t do that then you get these questions.

Where does the efficiency come from in front of goal?

It is scoring goals, it is quality. One week ago we scored six, today not. It is about working on that, doing that a lot of times and getting confidence out of that. I think the confidence before the game was there. If you look back at the first ten minutes and the way we played, we were good on the ball, we were brave on the ball, it was not kick and rush and hoping for something. It was good football there, creating good chances. Even in the first minute the header of Robin, if we just touches the ball in front of goal we have three players there on the second post. But you need to finish it off, otherwise you don’t have anything to tell after a 3-0.

Did the start show it was the right way to approach the game?

It shows also the potential that there is in the squad. There are still 34 games to go. We know at this moment we need to improve a lot of things, we need to gel also people together and get this automatism between players. The faster the game goes, the higher the level is, the faster you have to make decisions. We need to create the next weeks, the next months, also this connection between players. It is a normal thing. You saw also the moment that Celtic bring on a lot of players that they paid a lot of money for. It was not the same way of playing although they have to do the same things for their manager. They need to also come into this way of playing offensively, defensively, what to do together. It is a normal thing in football. We know we have a lot of work to do. We knew already two weeks ago, four weeks ago, we knew two months ago. We are going to do that.

Do the fans have to be patient?

There is no other choice, of course. It is a really big blow to lose 3-0 against Celtic. For all of us, for the fans. It is not something that you want. I think also we didn’t rewards ourselves in that way, it could have been a 3-2 or a 3-1 or a 3-3 even if you have a good efficient day. We didn’t rewards ourselves. We need to work on that and work on a lot of other things also. That is normal with so many new players and so many young players also. Look at the average age of the Celtic starting eleven today and our team today. So the best is by far to come with this squad. I have seen a lot of good things in the training, in the games, the last games and today also in the beginning and the reaction in the second half. But we need to rewards ourselves, that is a very important part in football.

How difficult is it to pick the players up?

I think that they did it at the end because the senior players were pushing still to get the result, even with the 3-0. I don’t have any doubt about their mentality.

How is Rabbi Matondo?

I don’t know yet. He felt something in his hamstring. We will see this week.