Right now I’m over in Germany, and I’ll be here until Thursday, so the traffic on this site may be a little light until then, but there is no way that I was not doing a piece today on that incredible spectacle yesterday at Ibrox; not the game but that lunatic who masquerades as their manager doing the full Basil Fawlty routine.
What in God’s name was that? It is the maddest thing I’ve seen in a long time. I was sent dozens of messages and emails on that and I watched it maybe half a dozen times and it does not get less ridiculous and it’s not going to.
That particular action is going to live in infamy along with the daftest actions of his predecessors. It deserves to. It makes everything that came before it look tame.
We’ve all suspected, I think, that Clement is crazier than all of them and this proves it beyond doubt. There are people online calling it his Caixinha moment; it’s not. It’s much worse than that for him. This is his David Ike moment.
Those of a certain age will know Ike as the mad conspiracy nut-job who makes the claims about the blood drinking lizards and such like. But before that he was a serious broadcast journalist who had made himself a good career and was known to millions of people. By the time he appeared on Terry Wogan in 1991 he had already thrown all that away and was known to harbour some pretty mad ideas.
When he announced on Wogan that the world was soon going to end and that he was the literal Son of God the audience laughed as he mocked Wogan and other unbelievers. What followed was one of the most skin crawling moments in TV history when the veteran presenter told his former colleague “They are laughing at you, they are not laughing with you.”
Did you hear that laughter in the press room yesterday? It has nothing on the laughing going on elsewhere and none of these people are laughing with Clement, they are laughing at him because they think that he’s an unhinged nut like Ike. This is not someone they can take seriously anymore; how can you after that?
I can’t speak to the state of mind of the average Ibrox fan; God, I wouldn’t even dare. But based on the cuttings from the forums they are seriously concerned that someone who behaves that way isn’t playing with a full deck of cards. Some of them think he’s embarrassed them with that behavior. They are right.
On top of that, he has to find himself up in front of the beaks for those comments and for his general attitude towards the officials. The guy can’t act like a madman and have the SFA pretend that’s alright. He does like a moan; this went way beyond that.
This is a guy acting very much like someone who felt the noose around his neck yesterday and he knows that the mood in the stands was on the brink of turning very ugly indeed if Hibs had been a little bit better at their own business.
This guy isn’t going to last. All told, he upset Cerny again yesterday when the crowd vocalised its displeasure at the football being played. That’s not the fault of one player though, no matter how much he might want to blame the guy for it. Cerny was holding onto the ball a second longer than the fans would have liked, but that will happen when nobody is trying to move into space or run off the ball … and whose fault is that except the manager’s? You see our team right now and it has all of that and more.
Clement is a master of finding other people to blame because he hasn’t got a clue as a manager. There is always some fig leaf to hide behind, some excuse to offer. But he’s not good enough and there’s no excuse he can offer for that, and a lot of the fans over there sussed that out a while ago. The rest will catch up in time.
But being honest, anyone who watched that spectacle he made of himself yesterday must have serious doubts about him if they didn’t before. That is someone who isn’t quite tuned into reality. That’s someone who has lost the plot.
Clement did achieve one thing with his ‘display’.
All the talk has been about him,
and not about his team’s poor showing against Hibs.
Might be some method in his madness?
Man is demented. The Demons are taking over. The torches being lit, the pitchforks being looked out BUT how can this be for a manager who has dished up their best result in 4 years.
There is a padded cell somewhere that’s lost it’s occupant.
They’re coming to take you away Haha..!!!
Perhaps he’s ’working his ticket’.
Angling for a parting of the ways on medical grounds, Incapacity.
The Klub sure as hell can’t pay him off just now.
He’ll probably end up as just another ‘Litigant’ in the ever growing queue
down the ‘Marble Staircase’ out onto Edmiston Drive.
when the pen was struck butland was aff his line and another zombie encroached into the area but basil never mentioned that heh heh
Maniac.
Leave Phil alone! The man is a comedy genius and deserves another contract extension at Ibrox.
Bit of a loony tune for sure. His demonstration of the Hibs penalty was John Cleese at his best. Strange individual.
Enjoy Dortmund. Hopefully we get a decent result.
Cannot wait for the John Cleese walking clips while shouting out
“Zombies, zombies you know”??
I am sure he is working his ticket that work conditions are driving him “Mental”
Sometimes James i think you find it hard to understand other people or try to see things from their point of view. It’s easy when you try.
I see the point you are trying to make regarding Clements antics but I also see the point he was trying to make regarding the hand ball. My view is the same from the point is that there is no real clarity on what constitutes a real hand ball. My view on it was and always has been and it should be without any doubt HAND TO BALL with the real intent on stopping the ball going to wherever it’s being aimed at. The whole rule has been overcomplicated now to the point of ridiculousness. When a players hand is naturally out for balance or defending themselves it should never be called against them.
This is another example of why am rapidly falling out of love with the game. And I’m probably only hanging on in there because of my beloved hoops. I used to watch and listen to as much football as I could but like most things in life its been given over to the bureaucrats and money men who are constantly trying to fix something that isn’t broken, introduction of VAR being a case in point.
I also think you do David Ike a disservice. Believe it or not he is a highly intelligent man far above where it seems Clement is. Maybe another one you just “don’t get” it’s unfortunate for him that perhaps he’ll always be remembered for that one instance on TV where he got carried away and felt people were ready to hear what he had to say. Maybe we’re just not ready for Clement!!! Lol.
Have a good a blessed day all! God bless.
Will he be hauled over the coals by The bent and corrupt SFA ?
Hmmmmm….
Not holding ma breath on that one for sure !