Behind the Rangers curtains: Philippe Clement's death stare, 'not a happy place' and delivery of fancy roses

Sitting on the reception desk at the Rangers Training Centre on Friday afternoon was an enormous bouquet of roses.

This was not your average petrol station bunch of flowers. Oh no. Somebody had looked up a high-end florist in nearby Milngavie and gone to town for their loved one. And they certainly weren’t for the larger-than-usual pack of reporters that had turned up for Rangers’ press conference.

Chances are they weren’t for Rangers manager Philippe Clement either on Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately for the Belgian, there is not a lot of love for him right now.

Rangers manager Philippe Clement spoke to the media ahead of facing Hearts. | SNS Group

That’s what happens when you preside over one of the most embarrassing results in the club’s history. Some would say losing 1-0 last weekend to Championship side Queen’s Park at Ibrox to tumble out of the Scottish Cup is as bad as it gets. It was the first time Rangers had lost at home to a team from a lower division in the competition.

Clement was already facing some heat for Rangers being 13 points behind Celtic in the Premiership title race. Now he is in the middle of the furnace as the club’s apoplectic fanbase stoke the coals with demands for the 50-year-old to be removed from office. So far, neither he or the Ibrox board has wilted.

Not one word had been uttered from Rangers since the post-match press conference from that defeat by the Spiders, so five days on, there was serious interest in what would be said by Clement and one of his players. Poor attacking midfielder Ianis Hagi – who a few months ago was persona non grata at Ibrox – was the one wheeled out to face the music.

Hagi, to his credit, did not shy away from where Rangers are right now. “[The mood] is obviously not nice,” the Romanian said. “It was probably one of the worst days [of my career]. Unfortunately as a football player, sometimes even though you don’t want to, you have to go through this type of scenario.

“We are all in this together. There’s not one person, starting from the board up until the kitman and everything, we’re all in this together and we’re not going to let anyone feel alone.

“It’s not a happy place right now and we can’t just hide behind curtains. It is that way. As a man and as a professional football player if you want to perform at this football club you need accept that and show it as soon as possible.”

Hagi compared the pain of defeat to missing out on the World Cup play-off with his country back in 2021. “It was one of those nights where you go home and you just can’t sleep for a couple of days,” added Hagi. “You just have to reflect, think about what you did wrong and what you can do better. The only thing you can do is react and win on the pitch.”

While hearing from Hagi was informative, he was essentially the warm-up act. Just before 3pm, Clement appeared. He looked tired. Goodness knows how his week has been given all the abuse and flak flying around.

Clement revealed that he has spoken with chief executive Patrick Stewart in the wake of Queen’s Park. There wasn’t much more meat on the bones other than it is “business as usual”. Clement will take charge of Sunday lunchtime’s trip to Tynecastle, which is not an easyassignment given Rangers’ patchy away form and Hearts’ recent revival under Neil Critchley.

Only a few weeks ago, Philippe Clement guided Rangers to the last 16 of the Europa League. | SNS Group

Only a few weeks ago, Clement believed that he had 200 per cent backing from the board. Does he still feel the same? “It's about the next games, the next months, everything,” he replied.

“I know we didn't want to go out of the cup. I didn't have any other signal of no backing. And that's the case in football as a manager. So I'm going forward to get the results that we want and also to continue making the development of all the players.”

In his defence, Clement referenced results since the turn of the year up until last weekend. They had been laudable, a big win over Celtic and reaching the last 16 of the Europa League. This wasn’t quite Rangers in full bloom but the ex-Monaco man looked to have planted some seeds of recovery, only for some small Spiders to come along and destroy them.

“We had good results,” continued Clement. “You guys talked a lot about the away record and it was true also domestically. We had a good game in Dundee United scoring three goals there in the last couple of weeks. Three goals, four goals, five goals, domination, good games against Tottenham and a new, qualifying in the first eight for Europa League was above expectations. We had a good win against Celtic at Ibrox. So a lot of positives.

“This was a very negative one. It's not a reflection of everything that happened this season with this group of players. But we need to get back to the level that they had a week before. We need to work on that. And we need to have the right mindset for that. And that's about reacting after this unacceptable defeat.”

The reaction from some of the Rangers fans has been vitriolic. Videos on social media have emerged of Clement leaving Ibrox last Sunday evening to some pretty awful personal abuse.

“I saw the video also,” Clement said. “I didn't look at the people who were making the video. That moment, there were also a lot of young children still asking for an autograph. And because of that, I stopped also for them.

“So it's a lot of things in the same moment. I understand the frustration of people. So it's clearly for me that I'm here, that I want to fight for this club. I want to get the results that we had the week before to continue to develop this team and to make it better and not to get results like that again. So it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt that moment.”

Clement was quizzed if he regretted committing to Rangers last summer when he became aware of how deep the club’s problems lie across multiple levels. “No, no,” he stated. “Otherwise, I would not be here because you can step out of a story. No, no. I know why I did that decision and it's because of this synergy with the fans and because I know how great this place can be if you have success, if you win trophies. So there is my hunger, my desire for all of that. So that's a choice I made before I came compared with other teams who were interested at the moment and it's still the case here.”

Rangers were stunned by Queen's Park last weekend. | SNS Group

Synergy with fans? That feels questionable. Many want him to leave. One reporter put it to Clement that losing to Queen’s Park was “the final straw” and that supporters are “disappointed” he is still in position. “That's what you say,” was Clement’s response, before the journalist in question added: “I think most people would agree with me.” The death stare from the top table was palpable.

It was the only moment of tension between Clement and the audience in front of him. Whatever your opinions on his football management abilities, he always fronts up.

He signed off with: “I'm here to give my best in everything to get the team ready for the game against Hearts, to work hard for that and my focus is on the next game.” Normally you’d say only a win would do, but Rangers are a long way past that. These are truly inclement times.