Philippe Clement has spoken to the media ahead of the League Cup semi-final with Motherwell. Here is everything he had to say.
Has the time since Wednesday changed your opinion on whether this team is heading in the right direction?
No. I saw the same things, the things that the team did well and for sure also the things that we didn't do well, why we lost the game, so that's what we discussed also today.
What would your message be to those fans who have lost faith that this project led by you is heading in the right direction?
Because they saw last season also, that with the right conclusions, with the right attitude, with the right mentality, with the right spirit, things can change really fast and we're working really hard on that with all the group on the pitch about what to do, off the pitch what to do and to know what this club is about and that every loss is a drama, it's a really bad thing, that's what you need to live with, what you need to embrace with because of that you have also the good moments. And we're going to continue working hard with all squads to have that in the minds and then to break these moments of games that we were not good enough, that we didn't concede our goals and to get more consistency in the good moments, which were there a few times but not enough this season.
What conversations have you had in the last couple of days with John Gilligan or members of the board as to how they feel about being nine points behind two rivals at this stage in the season?
I didn't have discussions about that the last couple of weeks, they've been really busy with a lot of other things in the club.
How confident are you that the board, the people above you, will have faith in you even if the results don't turn around instantly?
I'm very confident about that because that was also the really clear message, to step in a story for a longer term. They knew everything about the numbers, about what was necessary and I don't want to repeat all these things, I think I said it enough. And what consequences it can have and it's about small margins, like last season, taking those margins and making it better again. Last season we turned it around in a really short period, I'm convinced that can happen now also. But of course I wish it was at Aberdeen that we took the victory there, that would have been the big step forward. We didn't manage to do that. I saw a team that tried until the last second of the game and we had it in the last minute also the header with Tav just next to the post, so it's not that the team don't want or they give up or anything like that. So we're going to continue fighting to get results our way and to make things better. For sure more consistent, to get more football that we saw against Malmo, against Bucharest, those kind of games that we see more often.
So is that your message to the fans - if anyone has lost faith, just to stick with you and you believe you can turn it around quickly and very soon?
Yes, I'm going to work really hard on that. I'm going to do the same as I did last season and the same as I'm doing now. I'll do a little bit more in the club than that moment because there are also a lot of other things to do. But no, for sure I'm very confident about that. I feel also how the team works, how they were in the meeting also today. It's also not a team that don't take responsibility. They took responsibility in things. The staff took responsibility, I take responsibility and we all go forward to make things better.
Is it a concern for you that last season you inherited a team that had gone behind but this season it is your body of work?
It's our work. I never spoke in one year about it's my work or I've done something alone. It was always work together with the players, with the staff, with the board, with everybody. So it's work of all of us together.
Do you feel secure in your position?
I know what project I started in June. It was another project than I started in October. Those things were less clear. We had this talk in June that it was a really big challenge. That is also why there were negotiations about the contract and what to do, from both sides. We're going to continue working on that. Of course, I believe in all these people because it was all brought together. It was not only one person. It was all brought together going for this story because the story from before was not sustainable. They didn't want to go back to 2012 when the club was bankrupt. So there had to be a major turnaround in every sense. There had to be young players coming in, there had to be a big cut of wages in the squad, there had to be a lot of transfers. We wanted maybe as a club more outgoing transfers, getting more money in to use that in the transfer market. That was not possible at the end. So the club knows from where it's coming from. It's now the start of a better period and you don't see it in results now. Yes, that's true. It's totally true. But there is a foundation now being built for the future, for a more healthy club to grow out of that. And everybody knew it was not possible in one transfer window.
Did you receive assurances before signing the contract that no matter how bad performances and results perhaps were that your position would not be impacted?
It's never about no matter what. It's about we know how difficult it will be and we're going to stick together and we're going to do this project together for the next couple of years. So that's been clearly talked about. Of course I know if you lose 10 games in-a-row and all the players don't want to work with you, then there's an environment that you cannot work in. But that's totally not the case.
Do you see the level of fight in the team that you'd like to see at the moment?
I want to see more. I want to see more. I want to see more. Those are the things we're working on. Those are the things we're talking about. You see it in moments and you see it in moments when it goes well. And that we need to turn around, that it's all the time there. Those are the basics. We discussed the basics, our principles. But the basics in that, that was also one of the strengths last season that this team had in the difficult moments to dig in and to change around things. Now we've been good when we started good and we scored the first goal. We need to make this step as a group, with the whole squad together. Because that's what this club needs. That's also what I've been talking about so many times last season and this season also. This mindset. Because that's the mindset I want to see. That's the mindset I'm living in. Every time to turn around it.
There has been some criticism for the comments you made after the Aberdeen game?
Which comments? Because, to be honest, I didn't read everything.
A lot of fans were questioning the reasons for the defeat. For example, when you talked about the toenail being offside, you talked about the performance...
No, but that's not totally true because now you're only talking about the things that were positive in that game or we could have said about the toenail. It's an important thing in a game. In the momentum of a game, if you're that close offside or not, when you score a goal or not, nobody can argue that it's a decisive thing in that game. If that was not the case, it was a 2-2, so it's a decisive one. I didn't say that everything was good, that I was happy with how we get goals against or how we get chances against. I didn't say that totally. I didn't say also that it was a great performance. I didn't say it was the best performance. I gave also credit to Aberdeen, what they did. So, there are several things that we can do much better and we need to do better to get more consistent results in that way. But we played also worse games like that this season. That's also the truth. And we need to get to a better consistent level like we had a few times this season. I want to see that every three days and for sure on the basics. And then you make faults, like everything makes faults, but our basics need to be solid all the time. So, that's what I miss the most.
Philippe, you spoke last week about the vacancies in the boardroom. Would you expect those roles to be filled by now and would that make your job of getting the team to perform better on the pitch easier?
I don't want to talk about that now. I want to talk about the sportive side. That's my job to do. There were other things to fill in or still needs to be filled in now. I'm giving my best to do everything, every moment that I'm awake for this club in that way. And I know that the people in the club, they're working hard to solve all these questions, but you talked about that before. That's extra sportive. There are other people to talk about.
When you came in, you were told you were a football obsessive and you spent 24 hours a day thinking about football. How much more can you give to this project?
If I'm awake, yes. In my sleep also, probably. In time, not I think. But it's not about that. I want to do that. It's my passion and I love this club. I knew what big challenge we would have. I could not say it out loud too much the last couple of months. There are still things more clear after this with the numbers, so I can put a little bit more context in that way. And we're going to work hard to make this happen really fast. And it's about taking these moments. That's why I'm so disappointed after the Aberdeen game that we didn't grab those moments. And those moments didn't fall our side if you speak about a toenail then. That's not something my player did wrong in that way. So that I wanted to emphasise in those moments that you need that part also in football. Because in the end they did the right thing. Cyriel came out of an offside position to run onside. You cannot see if it's a toenail or not. And we did the right thing to score the goal. That I wanted to see.
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