Clement hits back at BBC journo after what he said

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has hit back at a BBC reporter insisting that the Gers’ win over Ross County was not about moving above Celtic in a new treble verdict out of Ibrox.

The Light Blues moved level with Brendan Rodgers’ side at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 3-1 win at Ibrox on Wednesday (14 February) but remain second only on goals scored having equalled the Hoops’ goal difference.

While Clement pushed his side on in search of a fourth goal, which would have seen them top the league, he has insisted that he is “not busy with Celtic” but instead focused on trying to win a domestic treble with his side.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Wednesday (14 February, 22:25) he said: “It was not about top spot. You can feel the momentum was there to make more goals. There are many games to go, we need to focus on ourselves and not how many goals other teams have.

“It’s a long question, but it will be a short answer. I’m not busy with Celtic, I’m busy with Rangers. To make this team better, to take as many points as possible with this team, and to win as many trophies as possible with this team now and in the future.

“To let the team and club grow. We’re only busy with that. So, we’ll only focus on ourselves. We’re the only team still in three competitions. We’re proud about that and we’re going to fight hard for that.”

Philippe Clement not bothered by Celtic in Rangers mission

It’s safe to say that Clement, like all supporters inside Ibrox, would have liked to have seen his side score a fourth goal just to move ahead of the Hoops for the first time under his management, but ultimately such a shift would have meant nothing.

Rangers are well and truly now in the title race, something that didn’t seem possible when the Belgian arrived in Glasgow. Whether or not they are the team sitting top in the second week of February ultimately isn’t important in the grand scheme of things.

This title race will almost certainly go down to the wire as almost every pundit has predicted and all that the Light Blues can do is focus on winning all of their games, just as Clement suggested on Wednesday.

Hopefully, that will be enough for the Gers to lift the title come the end of the season, but it is clear that those within the Ibrox camp aren’t too worried about what their Glasgow neighbours are doing next door.