Here is the complete transcript of Philippe Clement’s pre-game news conference, which took place before Rangers’ matchup with Real Betis for a spot in the Europa League Last 16.
Rangers, Real Betis, and Sparta Prague all had a chance to qualify for the next round of the Europa League going into the last game in Group C.
The Rangers boss is upbeat going into this European match as his injury-ravaged team has made its way to Spain.
The Ibrox team has never triumphed over a Spanish club in Spain. This is Philippe Clement’s response to questions from media during a press conference.
The official Rangers YouTube account is the host of the news conference.
Prior to the Betis press conference, Philippe Clement
Good to see you, Philippe. Could you first tell us about the players who aren’t here and their absences, specifically Todd Cantwell?
I believe we are running short on time because we have to eat this evening. The entire story takes a little while to tell about every player who isn’t present. Todd want to keep things private and is unable to attend due to personal reasons, which we respect. The good thing about that is that it’s just a family matter and has nothing to do with the club, me, or him. It’s crucial that we respect gamers’ wishes to keep information private.
Is he going to be free on Sunday?
“That’s a really big possibility, but it’s not a given.”
Is there anyone else who expected to come out and not be present?
“I had thought Ryan Jack would return, but he hasn’t. Thus, he is likewise out. You already know the rest. Danilo, Tom Lawrence, and Nicolas Raskin are just a few of the players on that lengthy list. There is also a lengthy list of players that are not on the European list. That’s what we currently know. As I’ve mentioned several times in the past several weeks, it’s crucial to me that the boys who are present are the focus. Thus, the players present are driven and determined to demonstrate their abilities both individually and as a team, and that is what matters most.
The task tomorrow seems simple – win the game and you top the group – it sounds simple but obviously it’s going to be a lot more difficult than that. What do you expect tomorrow from Betis in terms of how they approach the game?
“How many of their home games were losses this season? (0). Hence, even if you claim it’s simple, teams wouldn’t have completed the task. We admire Real Madrid and other elite clubs, but we also have goals in mind when we come here. The game is intriguing. Rangers have nothing to lose in this game either. Next (year), we will be in Europe, but we have high expectations for ourselves. We wish to move forward as a team once more. Over the past few weeks, I’ve set them a number of challenges, and nearly all of them have been met. We’re all fired up about this next challenge, which may be the largest one to date.
Philippe can I just confirm with Ryan Jack, does he have a possibility of making the Cup Final on Sunday?
“I don’t know. Today was not possible so we will see.”
Just in terms of your team selection for tomorrow night, you have obviously got th e big gam eon Sunday. Is that a dilemma for you, do you have some big decision to make in terms of making sure you have as many of your top players fit for Sunday?
“Those are the kinds of thoughts I might have had if all these players were fit, but right now that isn’t the case because there aren’t many positions where we can rotate and maintain the standard of the Europa League.”
Jose Cifuentes lost his appeal on Monday was that a decision that surprised you?
Obviously. It surprised everyone, including the Dundee players, I believe. Since glance at the picture again. Being a manager can be challenging at times. If the referee issues a yellow card, and it later turns into a red card, you will notice that there are many more poor tackles than yellow cards when you watch Match of the Day the following day. That was unusual, then. And then you watch the replay of the video from the game where Jose makes contact, but the player glides under him as he tries to get the ball. Return your attention to the picture. There are five or six Dundee players present. Nothing happens, no one responds to the referee. They just keep attacking since, as mentioned, there was a dual with the contact.
Losing a player for half of a game while still having 10 players is frustrating, but losing him for two more games seems a touch excessive. However, since I have no control over other people’s decisions, I will continue to concentrate on the males who are accessible. However, I will exercise extreme caution to make sure that, in the coming months, any instances in which these connections occur result in a red card.
Jose’s obviously available for tomorrow evening, how big a part could he have to play in midfield given the other absences?
“It’s a good question. Look at the list of the midfielders that we bring today so there’s a big chance he’s going to play yes.”
You spoke about this being perhaps your biggest test yet. Do you feel that will require the best performance and what have you seen so far in the European games that gives you confidence that you can build towards (the victory)?
“Every game is different. Availability of players is different. So no it’s a new game, it’s a different style also. Betis is a different style from Sparta, than Aris, so every game has its own story. And of course if a team like Real Madrid doesn’t win here we don’t have to say ‘we need to win here or otherwise it’s a disgrace’ or something. It’s going to be a really, really big test but I feel something special in the group. I feel there is a really good dynamic. I see it the last couple of weeks, I see it growing in the dressing room, I see it on the pitch, I seen it at the weekend also. After going behind everybody stayed with confidence, they played good football, they made four good goals, although we only got three at the end of the game. We went with ten. There was no doubt in the team. They didn’t give away any chance any more second half, we created good chances. So there’s a really good dynamic. I see several players becoming better and better and we need to continue that story against a really good opponent.”
Did you believe Philippe that you would be able to have that dynamic so early on in your time or did you think it would take longer for you to have that feeling in this group?
“To be honest I don’t know how long I’ve been here now. It feels like at least one year already. I’m not busy about the past or the level of players they had before or whatever. It’s about now, it’s about the future. It’s about what the team is doing and I see a team who works really hard, a team who is really focused. We had a flight now, on the plane also I spoke with two players about individual actions, video clips. Everybody is really, really focused on becoming better. I think this is a group where a lot of players still have potential to grow. I don’t see many players who are at their top yet. So that’s interesting for a coach to help them and guide them in that way.”
Sorry for going back to injuries again. A timescale on Danilo?
“I never give a timescale. Why? I’ve been a player myself and I had the luck that I was somebody who healed really fast. I worked really hard to come back also after injuries but there were moments that doctors said you will be back in eight weeks and I was back in four weeks. So I don’t think it’s good to put a timescale on it. But we need to be really clear and honest and I always try to be that as much as possible to give all the information. It will be several months, that’s for sure. So he will not be back in January or something but I don’t want to pinpoint on number of months.”
Philippe can I ask you about your backroom staff? It was confirmed today that they’ll be in place until the end of the season. What have you seen from them in your time so far at the club that’s impressed you and how much are you looking forward to continuing to work with them?
”It’s always interesting if you come into a new club, you have new staff. They were not also so long in the staff and for sure not with the first team so you need to see what their qualities are, how they’re doing things, how they fit with yourself, with the rest of the staff. So we took the time to make these observations and I am happy with the work, it’s clear, otherwise we would not continue. I feel there’s a really good dynamic with the team also, with the players, so it’s also a very important thing. They are ambitious. We have with Brian (Gilmour) someone who comes out of the Academy who’s really, really good structural work, understands the football story that we want to play, who’s going to be the bridge also towards the Academy. That’s also a very important thing to me. That we can write the story together and that we develop the young players after that when they come into the first team it’s not that big step as before. So he has a very important role in that. And then with Alex (Rae) we have somebody who knows what it is to be a player for Rangers. With all the things around, how it is in the dressing room, he has the experience at every level, so he can help the players in that way. And they did a really good job. Steph (van der Hayden) came with me, I knew his qualities, so it’s clear that he stays also, and the three of them work really good together. And Colin (Stewart) is doing also a really good job with Jack (Butland) and the other goalkeepers so for me there was no other reason to look then outside the club. Although we did it a while, to speak with people, to get to know other people, and it was also really interesting, but I think for the moment this is a really good staff and I’m really satisfied about it.”
Philippe, it’s obviously a huge week for the club tomorrow night and then Sunday, the potential to get into the Last 16 of the Europa League, to get the first trophy of the season, just how excited are you by the possibilities of the next few days?
“Yeah I am very excited but I’m also calm, I’m also focused. You need to see also that when you’re too excited you lose control, you lose overview, so that cannot happen. The most important thing is that the players keep on doing what they are doing. And I see it every week, even every training, if I repeat things that we did before and it was – for example – yesterday when we were training on our building actions, it becomes more and more fluid every week. And that’s the road we need to take the next weeks and next months and to implement more and more players. You saw a few young guys who were there, for them it was more difficult because it was the first or the second time they did it. But the guys who’ve been doing it from the beginning, they start to find each other much faster, and without thinking, and with better communication, and like this our football will become better and better.”
Paraphrased from Spanish journalist: Manuel Pellegrini called Rangers a big European club. The club is returning to Seville after almost winning this trophy in the city. What opinion do you have on this?
“I want to thank Mr Pellegrini for the nice words about the club. It’s clear that Rangers is a club with a big history so it’s an interesting game tomorrow. Two teams also who want to play football, who have an attacking style of football, so I think it will be for sure a good game for everybody to watch.”
Paraphrased from Spanish journalist: This morning Isco, a player who is in the best form in his career, do Rangers have any special plan to contend with him?
“I know he played for Real Madrid before. I few years ago we were with Brugge in Real when he was there. He’s a good player of course. But I am not going to give our plans towards you, that’s a little bit easy, maybe you are the son of the coach or something. No we are not going to speak about the plans that we’re going to have in the game but for sure it’s a very important player. Not only for Betis, he’s been important in Real and he’s played good games in the Spanish national team also. We know his qualities of course but he’s not the only good player of Betis, they have several good players.”
