Clement in '200 per cent' claim and issues Rangers fan rallying call

Is it an advantage for you that Bucharest has already announced the starting line-up for tomorrow?

First, I get information there were already two teams that were announced, so not one. I hope they only play with one. No, we're focused on ourselves. We're focused on ourselves to play our game. And then we will see which name they come, but no, it's about us. It's all about us. And I don't believe that people will throw away money with points in Europa League if they don't commit their best teams. 

It's not only that the club owner announced the line-up, he actually decides what the line-up is.​ How does that sound to you for a team in Europe? 

Then I will never go to Steaua Bucharest. 

Rangers have been linked with Darius Olaru. Do you like this type of player?

Like your colleagues out of Scotland know really well, after the last months, I never go into rumours because then I don't have a life anymore. Because there are so many rumours about so many players. And then we would have signed the last year more than a thousand players, I think. So I will never go into them. 

Ianis Hagi scored an incredible goal last night. Are you sad that he can't be part of your squad for tomorrow? 

Ok, there was a situation that we had in the summer. That's resolved because Ianis made an effort, the club made an effort. So it's a clean sheet in that way. We were not on the European list because at that moment we had to decide things. So we will see for the second part of the season. We hope we can make a new European list and then we will see to make the right decisions from there. 

You lost the last game and the fans are a bit unhappy. How important would a win be tomorrow? 

Very important. Also if we would have had six out of six in Europe and won the last game, it was also important to win the next game. That's what this club is about. So we're really hungry towards this game and looking forward to this game tomorrow. 

How would you describe the feeling after Sunday?

It was a big disappointment after the game at Kilmarnock. The players, staff, fans, nobody was happy with the level of performance and the result. So then you need to switch your mindset and look forward. You want to react as fast as possible. That's what's going on in the dressing room. That's the same with me. So you want the next game to come as fast as possible and to win that one. That's what football is all about. It's about the really good moments to enjoy that but not to enjoy it too much because then a few days later there's the next game and you need to be ready again and in the difficult moments to switch fast to react in a good way. So that's what I expect from tomorrow. 

We often speak about how important the fans are on these big European nights at Ibrox. How confident are you that the fans are still with you and that that relationship hasn't eroded? 

No, of course, fans are not happy now. We talked a lot about that, all the circumstances, sportive and non-sportive, over the last couple of months. So that doesn't help for sure. They're not happy after the last results. They were happy after Malmo, for example, so it goes up and down. It's about creating consistency again, creating momentum again with all the squads, with the results and then also extra-sportive to do the right things in the club to create also stability towards the outside. So it's about that and everybody needs to work hard to get that the next weeks, next months to come.

There seems to be, especially after Sunday, a growing number of fans who are losing faith in the direction of the team. What would be your message to those fans who are losing faith? 

We spoke about, and I don’t want to repeat it too much, about a big rebuild in many ways, about cutting wages to make the club sustainable for now and the future because there were decisions made in the past, before the time that I was here. So I stepped in that story after long talks for the long term, also to making long term decisions together with the squad, together with the board towards that for the future. So we are working really hard with the players, everybody in the staff to make it as fast as possible back at the level that this club was maybe 12, 15 years ago or in moments in the last couple of years, but never over a long period. So that takes time and we're going to work hard on that. It's a process you need to follow. It's about performing well, maybe less days and you want to avoid that as much as possible. So that was one of the lower days, for sure, against Kilmarnock in specific circumstances also now and it's about reacting now towards the style of Bucharest. And I have a lot of confidence in this squad for the short term and for sure for the long term also.

Do you have a time in mind when you think this squad will play or will compete at the level that you want?

Those are good questions for everybody who's never been a manager or a player because there are so many circumstances that you don't have under control that you cannot say that. There are players who come to a team and from the first day they feel good. There are other players who need three months. There are players who need six months. They are human beings. Those are no machines. So you can ask these questions and I understand and everybody does all over the world. There's not one manager in the world who can say that for any transfer in that way. So we did a lot. We had to do a lot also because of the circumstances. So it's about working hard with the players, with the staff to get the players as fast as possible in their best form, feeling good in the club, getting the connections together on the pitch, learning how to play together. There are so, so many things to do and it's just a small part of all the list that needs to be done. So that takes time. But is there somebody who can predict how fast that goes? Not. And it also has emotions in that way. It has a lot to do with results. We could have played that game against Kilmarnock and winning with 0-1. And then there's a totally different emotion for the moment. It's now getting consistency in results, in performances and growing as a team. 

You asked for patience at the start of the season…

No, I don't ask. Everybody asks that. That's normally the situation with a decision that's made before the season where this club had to go to stay sustainable and to become better for the future. 

When we were speaking to you at the start of the season, you said it would take, because it was such a big rebuild, a few months for the players to settle in. You said it would be about October, November... 

No, you come back and you did it last week also. I don't know you, but I said the team will be better in October, November than it was in August. That's also the case. It will be better also in September. I think everybody was really positive about the Malmo game, for example. That was better than in August. So we need to get to that level more consistently. And there we're working on it.

And you're confident that you are still on that trajectory? 

For sure. 200%.

When you were speaking with the board about your new contract, was there an understanding that they would give you the time that you're looking for?

Of course, that was all the idea about the contract from the board and also from me to show that I would not leave if something else came along the way. So everybody who did this job or has worked in football knows to make that rebuild and cutting wages and making the club sustainable and investing in young players for now and for the future, that it takes time. You cannot do that in one, two, three months. That's impossible. Or you need to have all the luck in the world that everybody directly settles in, that there are no injuries and that in all the games, everything falls your way. It could have happened. That's a small percentage of possibility.

You then need the fans to buy into that even if the results are not great this season?

Yes, because it's going to help. And we talked a lot about that last season. And all the fans were behind the story. They were really happy with the story. I didn't go in the hype that moment or in the Harry Potter stories in that moment. So I don't go in the drama also now. There is a big space in between and we're in that space in between. And the fans will see the next month that this team will become better. But the more they stick behind the team, the more they are positive, the more they are supporting, the more they give the team energy, the faster it will go also. But we understand also from our side that the fans need to see also things on the pitch. So we were not happy with the performance in that way against Kilmarnock. All of us were not happy about that. And I don't want to hide behind excuses of the pitch. It's kind of a reason, but I don't want to use that. Not before the game, not after the game. So we're going to keep on working hard to make things better as fast as possible.

Does constantly changing manager and players lead to the cycle that the club is on? Is stability key to getting out of this?

Of course it's the only way. But it's also not the only way here. It's been the only way in clubs all over Europe or all over the world. If you change ideas every three months, six months or every year, of course there's no consistency in the club. So you need to follow a track, you need to follow one process that everybody keeps on going in the same direction. So that's crucial. Otherwise you always have ups and downs and you will change a lot because if you go in a emotion of the day or one result or two results, then you can never create consistency over the long term.

It's not going to be an easy process, but it's a process that has to be done. Is that the message?

 Yes and everyone is working really hard to make it as fast as possible. That I can say to the fans. People who are not happy now, they were probably happy really happy with me six months ago, nine months ago. I am still the same man. I'm working even much harder than I did at that moment because there are much more things to be done, not only on the sportive side but also on the non-sportive side in this moment in the club. So I'm throwing myself on all those things because I engage myself in that way in the summer and before the summer, in all those talks, because I believe so much in this club and the potential it can have for the future and to bring it back where it was before.

Philippe, do you see enough evidence across the last few weeks that this is a team that's going in the direction you wanted to go in?

 Yes, in certain details, you can speak about the Malmo game, I think it was a really good away game in Europe, with good football, a good result, with the type of football the fans want to see, with the ball and without the ball so in that way we need to continue.

How do you explain the differences in performances against Malmo and Kilmarnock?

I don't want to go into that. It's a totally different game and I don't want to use that as an excuse, but it's part of the story there. But it's not an excuse, we should have won. But we will never play the same football as in Malmö or in Kilmarnock, but we should have played in a better way to win the game. But to see really good football there on the pitch, you will not see it. Really good football. That's the circumstance, but I don't want to hide behind that excuse. But it's about winning and we didn't win.

What have you been pleased with so far and what are the areas you need to see improvement in?

Ask me this question halfway when we have played 19 games. Now it is focused om the next game and getting people back. Positive points was the second team game. Watching the players, watching the young guys, watching Danilo back, scoring a goal, getting back in shape and he still has a long way to go. Those are also positive points, that for the moment fans don't see. Yes, that's normal because Dani still has a way to go. But he's going to be also important in that way on the things we want to achieve in the next couple of months. But it's daily work.

Is Zak Lovelace in contention?

 He will be in the selection, yes.

And the rest of the team? Is Ridvan available?

He's not yet in the selection because Ridvan trained now the second time with the first team, but he came out of a serious injury. It's too fast for him to put him in again, but he's in a positive way.

One of the criticisms of this team is that there's not enough leadership shown in games on the park. Do you think they have enough leadership?

 We're working on that to make it better and better and we have several. We had more before because we had a more mature squad. That's logical. There are several young players with potential to grow in that way. I use Conor Barron as an example in that way. He did really good things in his first weeks in the club here and he has a lot of potential for the future in that way. But of course, being a leader in Rangers is something else than to be in another club. So you need to grow in that role. That's also part of all this process, giving these players responsibilities, giving them the mandate to be a leader in that way and to evolve and become stronger. And also to see how people react in the difficult moments. Like now, it was after Kilmarnock. It's very interesting now to see who stands up, who has more difficulty with that, who has more difficulty with all the negative attention on social media or in the newspapers or whatever. How to react with that, with the new guys who come into the building. Because it's also part of being a player at Rangers that when you don't win, you're not good as a player, as a manager, as an press officer, as a chairman, as whoever it is. That's part of being at this club. It's also the part everybody needs to embrace because this passion from the fans, from everybody, you get it also back in the good moments. Otherwise, you don't have those also.

One of the main complaints is Rangers' style of football. Too many long balls, too many needless passes side to side. How do you respond to accusations that it's too boring to watch?

Two totally opposite things that you say there. Long balls or sideways passing.

The accusation from the fans is there's too much of it and there's no attack in play and they're boring to watch. How do you respond to that?

No, but what you say now, is it too many long balls or is it too many sideways passes?

It can be both...

It's about creating not enough chances. That's the conclusion at the end. I agree with that in the Kilmarnock game. It was the case. In other games we created more chances, not in all the games until now. But you see also we're starting to play with new players in that role who are just in the building. Nedim Bajrami is how long here? Four weeks or something? Six weeks maximum. And in the six weeks he's been three or four weeks away with the national team. So they're just in the building. There are other players in other clubs who come to their better level now after the first six months that everybody said they were not good. So Nedim did already good things but of course you need to create these connections on the pitch more and more to get to know each other. Which moment to run, which moment to play deep, which moment to create a chance or the shot. We need to create these moments. We're playing more and more together.

Is Zak Lovelace somebody that can help you? Is he the kind of excitement or the kind of difference that you feel at the moment that can come in with the team and help because the fans are looking to be excited by somebody?

Yes but Zak is not there that the fans will be excited for 10 games in a row. So he can do specific things in another style than other players in the squad. But there are still a lot of things to work on and he's just 18 or 19 years old. But it's an interesting profile for the future and for the near future. maybe also. We decided before the game that it was a maximum of 60 minutes to play and we would decide during half-time if it was 45 or 60. In 45 I saw enough because I want him on the bench for Thursday also. If it's necessary that we can use that kind of profile. What we have less in the squad now because of injuries of other players.

Could Bucharest be difficult opponents?

Of course. You need to have a lot of respect for them. They have six out of six. And they did it in a good way. It's a very good technical team with a lot of offensive power. So we need to play a game at the level of Malmo to get the three points again and that's what we want to do tomorrow.