Philippe Clement gushes with praise for two previous Rangers fall guys and deflects attention from himself

Yilmaz and Propper help inspire huge Old Firm win for Rangers

Philippe Clement praised his redeemed Rangers players after a patched-up Ibrox team secured a first Old Firm win for their manager.

Clement was operating under considerable pressure as he sought a maiden victory in the fixture at the seventh attempt. He succeeded in securing it in unexpectedly emphatic fashion courtesy of goals from Ianis Hagi, Robin Propper and substitute Danilo.

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The manager stressed that it was not about him. ‘The only thing is that you guys don't need to start anymore about never winning an Old Firm, so that's done,” said Clement.

Rangers manager Philippe Clement revelled in his team's Old Firm performance.Rangers manager Philippe Clement revelled in his team's Old Firm performance.
Rangers manager Philippe Clement revelled in his team's Old Firm performance. | SNS Group

Although the Belgian sought to play down what it meant for him personally, he knew what failure might have prevented him continuing his Rangers project. Defeat against St Mirren and dropped points against Motherwell meant pressure was firmly on him again. He re-emphasised his commitment to Rangers afterwards.

“I know and I knew in June that this was a really, really big challenge and I do it because I love this club so much and the fans and everybody in the building,” he said. “This is a massive club, but we're not there yet where we want to be and I want to be part of that to get this club back to the level it needs to be.”

This performance was further proof that Rangers can go toe-to-toe with Celtic in a one-off game. “I am very pleased that they get the reward that they deserve,” said Clement. “They didn't get it in this League Cup final, and that was a harsh one, a cruel one, we have talked about that. Today they got it. They didn't just get it, they grabbed it.

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“It was a well-deserved victory,” he added. “It was a very strong collective victory with some players playing out of position, but doing a very good job.

The Rangers players celebrate in front of their fans.The Rangers players celebrate in front of their fans.
The Rangers players celebrate in front of their fans. | SNS Group

“Players stepped in who haven’t play so much. I'm very pleased that everybody from the outside can see all the hard work that the players have been doing the last couple of months.”

One of the players playing out of position was Ridvan Yilmaz, who was deployed at right back in the absence of skipper James Tavernier. The young Turkish defender kept Daizen Maeda in check and was one of the standouts. This performance helped erase the memory of having the decisive penalty saved in the shootout to decide the Premier Sports final last month.

“He took his responsibility with the penalty and really big players, big stars of world football have missed penalties - and he even didn't miss because the goalkeeper saved,” he saved.

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“So it's about at that moment sticking together as a team. Everybody supported Ridvan directly after the game, all the players, all the staff, because he's somebody with the right mentality for Rangers.

Robin Propper was among Rangers' star men.Robin Propper was among Rangers' star men.
Robin Propper was among Rangers' star men. | SNS Group

“He took his responsibility and that happens in football then and it's disappointing in that moment. But if the support and the togetherness is not that big, Ridvan can never do a performance like this today because then he would have run around with his head down for two weeks. It's only two weeks ago, it's not long.”

Dutch defender Propper was commanding in defence and scored his side’s second goal after a difficult start to his Rangers career. “Robin has this experience out of the past, but you come into a new club, you need to adapt to everything,” said Clement. “It takes a while before you feel like that, taking that responsibility in the dressing room also.

“He did it that way today, but I want 11 leaders on the pitch. That's my dream. I didn't manage to create that yet in one squad until now, but I'm pushing for that all the time.”

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