A collective groan could be heard around Hampden and in living rooms across the country when Philippe Clement replaced Todd Cantwell with Scott Wright for Rangers against Hearts.
One was our best player last season, while the other had not scored in 40 appearances during Michael Beale’s tenure.
As it stands, the decision played a significant role in the game’s outcome, demonstrating that Philippe Clement isn’t afraid to make tough decisions and prioritise Rangers priorities over his own, as explained by Rangers TV.
Philippe Clement explains Todd Cantwell’s Rangers call.
In the not-too-distant past, Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent were almost guaranteed starting spots every week despite consistently poor performances.
The fact that the new Gers manager does not tolerate players taking it easy after a win suggests that similar levels of effort will not be tolerated.
When asked after the game why he decided to hook Cantwell, Philippe Clement made it clear that he did so to give Rangers the best chance of winning:
“I had a few reasons. It was also due to the yellow card – I didn’t want to take any chances with it because I knew they’d try to irritate Todd even more.
Scott, with his unique qualities, can also play that role, as can young Ross McCausland.
“It’s important to have several players who can play in several positions and if you can bring in fresh ones in the second half, when the other team gets tired, it’s an advantage.”
A lot of managers would have taken the gamble and left Cantwell on.
Philippe Clement noticed that the Rangers playmaker was being pursued by Hearts players and decided to take the initiative with the game still on the line.
An easy comparison is when Steven Gerrard led us to a Europa League qualification victory over Ufa.
John Flanagan was on a yellow card and was exactly the type of player who was likely to give fouls away; the then-Gersea manager could have taken him off when it was clear that his next free-kick would result in another card, but he didn’t; Morelos could also have been calmed down a lot faster. It didn’t cost us anything on that particular occasion, but how many times did we all see it coming from Morelos?
Philippe Clement is more astute than that, and he noticed Nick Walsh flashing the cards and Hearts’ game plan to disrupt Rangers and win free kicks.
It also demonstrates how much faith he is willing to place in players who others, including the support, may consider to be less talented.
