Sport

Philippe Clement pleads with stars to stop leaving Ibrox early

Published

9 months ago

March 2, 2024

Philippe Clement last night urged the Subway Loyal to stay in their seats and help roar Rangers to Premiership glory.

The Ibrox boss made special mention of Gers’ passionate travelling support on Wednesday night as he praised the part they played in a vital away win at Kilmarnock. But the big Belgian has been left puzzled in recent weeks by the sight of thousands of fans heading for an early exit while his side are still in action at Ibrox.

With the possibility that this year’s title race could come down to goal difference, Clement is acutely aware that every minute counts in the battle to finish ahead of Celtic. And he wants the Ibrox faithful to stay to the end of today’s clash against Motherwell and help ensure his team finishes as strongly as they can.

He said: “It could (come down to goal difference). So every second of help, helps. I hope that people can stay longer because the players are really wanting to show respect to everybody who was supporting them, that’s why they go around the stadium and they go to every corner (to applaud the fans). But I know also that people have their private lives and it’s not an easy thing with all the traffic and buses leaving.

“People come from all over Scotland and even other countries to watch the games. A few months ago we had a meeting about a lot of things in the club and one of the guys raised the question that if there was a possibility to change something with how the busses are parked because they came from Northern Ireland with the bus and they had to leave late so it was difficult to get on time on the boat.

“I know and I understand that there are a lot of other issues. They are not all living around the corner and can sit and wait. But for sure, the players want to show everybody the respect that they deserve for the way they are behind the team.

“And it’s a major thing, you saw after the last game the interaction between players and fans is now where I want it to be. It would be better if they stayed longer because the players are really hungry to give everybody the respect they deserve.”

Gers had to dig deep at Rugby Park after falling behind to Derek McInnes’ high-flying Killie side. But he was delighted to see the fans contribute to a hugely significant win in Ayrshire. He said: “I’m really happy about that, to see that. It gives me a lot of energy.

“This club is in a really good place and it’s now we have been going up, up, up. It’s impossible to win all the games, we are going to try but it’s also important that it stays that way when we one moment reach this bump on the road to stay that way.

“I have the feeling now that everybody in the club – players, fans, everybody – is ready for that and they stick together because there is a lot of love from both sides.”

But Clement – who will be without winger Oscar Cortez for today’s Well clash – wants the season-ticket holders at Ibrox to realise how lucky they are to be in a position to cheer his side on. “Yes because a lot of people want to be there and to be in their place,” he said.

“I come from a club in Brugge where you also have this good connection between players and fans in the good moments. And it gives you so much strength. When I was a player, every time we had a corner all the fans behind the goal sang a song for me because I scored a lot of goals from corners with headers.

“It gave me so much energy so I recognise how much that gives to players. Fans don’t realise that always, how much that gives. Here, we have it with 51,000, that’s amazing. And it’s more than just 51,000 because I’ve met now a lot of people on the street who have difficulty getting a ticket to come and watch the games but they are really diehard fans.”