Philippe Clement not only praised Rangers (and Celtic) for finally sorting out the ticket fiasco at long last, but by force of logic, will be delighted that a major reason he joined Rangers, which is the Old Firm, will be restored to how it should be.
Clement made the effective confession when he joined Rangers that Monaco might have been a nice club, but the atmosphere was dead, especially at home. That the Stade Louis II, with its miserable 18,000 capacity and modest football ‘vibe’ just wasn’t the thunder he wanted to see in the game.
And of course, in his maiden Old Firm, with it being only a home crowd at Parkhead, he still didn’t get to sample a serious derby atmosphere, having not really have experienced too many as a manager.
As boss of Genk and Brugge, there aren’t a tonne of massive derbies – sure, there’s some mild rivalry and there’s Club v Cerle for Brugge, but for a major rivalry all three clubs he’d managed at he didn’t really get to taste it.
And at Rangers, there certainly is one, but that ticket fiasco stopped Clement getting to sample it. Sadly it still will for the rest of this season too.
But he’s delighted it’s fixed for next campaign.
He said:
“Everyone loves football with two sides if fans sing towards each other and to have this atmosphere. No-one enjoyed the Covid period when there were no fans. That was really difficult. For me it was also really strange to play at Celtic Park with no supporters of ourselves, that was a first time for me. It was a strange experience. I think everybody, every player, every manager wants both sides in the stadium and football is about that. It is entertainment from two teams so it is a very positive thing from my side.”
Having just one set of fans the past 18+ months in this fixture was hugely damaging, and we actually feel a little sympathy for Clement that in his managerial career, as a huge, huge football man (both literally and figuratively) he’s never experienced the proper football atmosphere of a serious derby.
Well, it’s still a bit away, but at least next season he can put that one to rest.