Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media ahead of Rangers' meeting with Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership. Here's everything he had to say from the embargoed section. 

Nils spoke about the few plans you have for January. How much business are you expecting to do with the transfer window?

We're going to have, in the next couple of weeks, a really good meeting with everybody involved in that way in the club, to make clear decisions around that.

Obviously there was a big turnover of players in the summer. Do you expect, not 9 or 10, but do you expect three or four signings?

I cannot say anything about that because first we need to see what the budget is in that way.


Could loan deals be more realistic?

Like I said before, if I don't know budget, I cannot say anything about that. So let's speak about that in a few weeks.

Would it help to have the chairman position and chief executive position also sorted heading into the window?

Yes, that's the logical way in the club. I know that the people responsible are working really hard. They keep me also informed about that, with who they are talking and how things are going and all those things. So that's really transparent and open. The rest for me is to focus on the team. And the other things around the team to see that it works in the best way, knowing what the situation is, and to help in that way also. That's my focus and I know the other people are working really hard to fill in those roles.

Have you been given any indication of potential timescales for those appointments?

It's the same as with transfers of players. As long as something is not signed, it's not done. So is it away one week or one day or one hour? That you never know. So it's the same as with players.

How vital and crucial is it to have these players back heading into this run?

It's very, very important. It's every three days now and it's all top games. So the more players available, the more players not only available but in a good shape, because only being available is not enough, the better we can perform. The better you can make decisions, the better you can make changes during the game to give something extra at the end of the game. It's crucial for every club that plays every three days. If you're in a club where you have one game a week, you have more time to recover. You can play with the same players, almost the same level. That's a different world. Here it's not the case, but that's what we want. That's what I want, that's what the players want. That's also the only way to have really good games to play in Europe. Everybody wants to play there also.

How excited are you about that challenge over the next month?

I'm excited about that. To be honest, I hate this period with international break. My wife doesn't like when I say that, but it's the reality. I miss having all the players here. You're not in control of things, what they are doing somewhere else. You have one training now before this game. I'm looking forward to have all the boys together again. Having all these fixtures, having all these challenges, playing in front of our fans. I'm looking forward to that.

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It's been a difficult start to the season but this is a month that change the feeling?

It's about us, what we do on the pitch. I've shown, because it was the first day today, that everybody was back. I showed against Hearts the first half. The fans were amazing. There was a really good atmosphere in the stadium. They were behind the team, they were applauding, they were happy. They were excited. In the second half, when we lower our level, then this energy goes down. It's in the hands of us, together on the pitch, to get the right atmosphere.

Goodwin wants to create tension but can you nullify that?

Yes, I'm confident about that. I like when other people motivate my players.

Do you want to put out a statement tomorrow on your performance to show that?

No, it's a tough opponent. They play a really good season. We're going to throw everything from our side to win that game. And the next game. Game by game, getting the three points and going for that. That's our goal and that's our focus.

You have not scored at all from a set-piece this season. Is that a concern for you?

Yes, it's a frustration because we had several good set-pieces and [they were[ just saved them against the crossbar, against the post or just not. It's the same as last season. We work on that before every game. So, one moment we need to start scoring in that way. I think a good example is John. He's much better now in what he's doing on his set-pieces in his heading game than he was last season because he's working hard on that. So, the moment will come that we will score again in those situations like we did several times last season.