We didn’t cover this at the time on Ibrox Noise, but once again Philippe Clement has thrown players under the bus by slaughtering Mohamed Diomande and Cyriel Dessers in all but name.
Now, few would disagree with Dio especially having been a downright dreadful acquisition by this manager and his Technical Director, but he’s the same boss picking him match after match. Dio has been a waste of £4.5M and it’s the blue pound that cost that much – he could have easily been a £250,000 signing for Hearts.
Nevertheless, Clement plucked him and Dessers out of the sky and publicly criticised them at Ibrox v Utd, in another example of how poor a manager he has become for this club.
He said:
“We had some players who performed normal but we had some players who were not good enough today, who were not available enough today, who were not brave enough today. That’s why I made also some changes in half-time with players who had a good impact. We need to show much more like what we showed in the second half because then we are playing the sort of football that I want to see. So I’m going to be harsh on that.”
Clement might have been factually correct that Dio and Dessers didn’t have their best games, but to rake them over the coals and flog them publicly in this way isn’t the method to get players onside.
Fans noted that his comments after that dismal draw did scream of a manager who wants out, who wants the sack, and it’s hard to disagree.
Clement no longer wants to be manager of Rangers but he’s not going to resign – we’ll explain why in another piece.
But instead he now behaves in this poor manner, a manner where it’s unbecoming of a Rangers manager to admonish individuals in public – in private, absolutely, tear into them, but publicly?
These guys aren’t going to play (mentally) for Clement again, and while Dessers is hardly Messi, he’s one of the few who has tried, even if his own form the past month or two hasn’t been vintage.
So let’s call him a waster along with Dio and that’ll make things better.
Good work again Phil.