Philippe Clement didn’t take his first defeat as a Rangers manager very well after Celtic beat his side 2-1 in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
Far from giving the Bhoys much credit for their second derby win of the season, Clement fumed about refereeing decisions and a penalty not given to his team – despite replays showing that Rangers were clearly offside in the build-up.
Clement has largely been a sensible presence in Scottish football since arriving as Rangers manager, staying level-headed and factual for the most part.
However, you could see that today’s defeat brought out a different side to him. The pressure is severe when you’re the losing party in a derby.
Philippe Clement fumes after Celtic beat Rangers
Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: “I have other questions about why there wasn’t a handball decision in the first half to get a penalty when it’s a clear handball. Why no second yellow cards for some tackles? In the end of the game, a lot of yellow cards. A few strange decisions in that way.”
When it was put to him that Abdallah Sima was offside directly before potentially winning a penalty, Clement continued to moan, stating: “The decision was not made about an offside. The decision was made, there was no penalty because of no handball. That’s a really strange decision for me.”
On BBC Radio Scotland, Clement refused to acknowledge that Celtic deserved their win. When asked if the better team won, the Belgian was frosty in response, replying: “You want to get a reaction or something. Did you think the better team won? I ask you now.”
It’s an interesting change of demeanour in Clement, who looked to portray a positive performance from Rangers rather than take responsibility for defeat.
Ultimately, as we know, Celtic like to do their talking on the pitch. When things don’t go well, leaders such as Callum McGregor step up and attempt to put them right in matches, not interviews.
We saw more evidence of that today. After two poor recent defeats against Kilmarnock and Hearts, Celtic have bounced back to respond to the criticism rather than blame other people.
It remains to be seen whether the Bhoys’ title rivals are capable of the same after their first defeat under Clement.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers singles out top Celtic performer on ‘another level’ vs Rangers and reacts to big derby win.
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