Clement has to win hearts and minds at Rangers. Beating Celtic would help
Share:
Manager is yet to win an Old Firm match and success would help him to show he is making some progress. Philippe Clement can only hope the law of averages is due to swing in his favour. If not, the sense of an elongated, unsatisfactory conclusion to his spell as the manager of Rangers will have intensified by Thursday evening.
![[Ewan Murray]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/06/Ewan_Murray,_L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Brendan Rodgers has tasted defeat in only one of 20 Old Firm matches. Celtic’s manager has presided over 16 wins in that run. Clement would be forgiven trepidation, then, as Rangers prepare to host their oldest foes. The Belgian is yet to defeat Celtic, having faced them half a dozen times.
![[Celtic beat Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final last month.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1a1988980dc7e45d09bb6e77bedac18ee722622d/0_242_5035_3021/master/5035.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Clement can reasonably point out that any focus on this fixture is unfair. Celtic, after all, are vastly superior to Rangers; they have been for more than a decade, save the odd notable high for Glasgow’s blue half. Cliche suggests form books fly from windows in derby games, which is typically untrue. Given Celtic have dominated Scottish football in this era, it follows logic Rangers will have a tough time beating them.
Clement’s problem sits in an inability to capture hearts and minds. There are precious few traces of Rangers progress, almost 15 months into the 50-year-old’s tenure. This is why he desperately needs to defeat Celtic. The manager is perceived, rightly or wrongly, as an excuse-maker at a time when Rangers need straight-talking. Rangers are 14 points adrift in the Premiership. Their domestic away form is awful given they spend far more than anyone other than Celtic. The only reliable thing about Rangers is their unreliability.
