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The Ibrox boss’s weakness almost blew up in his face last night.

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Image for The Ibrox boss’s weakness almost blew up in his face last night.

Last night, the Ibrox boss got extremely lucky.

His side was 2-0 up but down to 10 men, with only eight minutes or so remaining. A ball floated into their penalty area was knocked down to a St Johnstone striker, who slammed it into the back of the net. The goal was ruled out for a marginal offside. If it had stood, the final stages of the game would have been incredibly tense, and at the centre of it all would have been one undeniable fact: Philippe Clement is a weak man and a weak manager.

The player sent off, of course, was Ianis Hagi, who only returned to the team last week after the manager was forced into a humiliating climbdown on his vow to exclude him from the first-team squad. The media has tried to dance around this, making excuses and pretending it was the manager’s choice, claiming it was all due to a “contractual wrangle.” But anyone watching the game knows the truth—Clement’s hand was forced, and he’s been humbled.

Let’s examine the supposed “contractual wrangle.”

In reality, it was a contractual entitlement.

Hagi was reportedly close to triggering a clause that would have earned him more money once he played a certain number of games. The club excluded him from the squad deliberately, keeping him one match short of that total.

It’s a classic example of how that club operates—reckless in the first place, and then appalling in their treatment of one of their own players. If they truly forced him to renegotiate his contract just to be reselected for the first team, that’s disgraceful. But it’s no surprise—that’s the kind of club they are; a signed contract means nothing to these Peepul. You have no assurance at all that it will ever be honoured in any way, shape or form.

Beyond the media spin, the manager himself made it clear that this wasn’t about money; he claimed Hagi didn’t have what it takes to be part of the first-team squad. Yet, in a matter of weeks, Clement has completely reversed his stance.

Had that St Johnstone goal counted and the team gone on to drop points—something entirely possible in those final minutes—Clement’s decision-making would have come under intense scrutiny. His side was already exhausted, mentally and physically, and with half the players as fragile as their manager, they would have been at risk.

Clement barely survived last night, but his reputation has taken a hit regardless. However the media attempts to spin this affair, he has been made to look absolutely ridiculous and there is clearly some anger over that. His defence of Hagi was half-hearted, claiming the red card was both harsh and deserved—a baffling contradiction.

There’s also a clear difference in the way Clement speaks about Hagi compared to Cerny, who scored both goals for the club; he praised the Czech’s hard work and commitment. Hagi, on the other hand, has been told that he faces a slog to get up to speed.

Cerny had an interesting week himself, and it’s another area the media doesn’t seem to want to look too deep into; he was, forced off social media due to abuse from the Ibrox fans after missing a chance against Lyon. He’s not the first player this season to face the wrath of the Ibrox crowd, and he won’t be the last.

For the next fortnight, the media will wax lyrical about how special a player Cerny is and how crucial he could be in helping the club claw its way back into the title race.

But while they’re busy crowning him, I’d suggest they hold off before anointing him as the best right-sided attacking player in the country—because Nicolas Kühn, whose season so far in a Celtic shirt has him pegged as a player of the year contender, is head and shoulders above everyone.

Still, the media needs a hero across the city, and they’ll be quick to elevate Cerny due to the lack of alternatives. That club remains in absolute disarray.

Don’t get me wrong—they’ll still be good enough to beat most teams in this league on most days. But there’s no real leadership, either on the pitch or in the dugout.

They’re a team in the midst of their own wee facade, pretending confidence but flirting with disaster every time they play. Too many players have their own personal agendas, and there are far too many unresolved issues for things to turn out well.

And then there’s the manager.

He doesn’t inspire confidence—quite the opposite, in fact.

He should inspire derision in the media as he does amongst our fans, and lately, amongst the fans at Ibrox as well, who know when they are watching a guy on his last legs. As I said when the Hagi decision was announced, what little credibility Clement had left has been shattered by that U-turn whether the media wants to talk about it or not.

He faces real problems trying to lead a team where everyone knows he can be pushed around and made to dance to someone else’s tune. That never ends well and it’s not going to end well for him. Rodgers already has the place on the mantlepiece picked out. I don’t think it will be long before he has another trophy up there to enjoy looking at.

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9 comments

  • Jimmy R says:

    Rangers and Michael Ball.
    Sevco and Ianis Hagi.
    Two clubs. Same mentality.
    Bringing Hagi back into the fold suggests either that:
    a) Someone has found a few bob down the back of the sofa. Or,
    b) The contract has been re-negotiated.
    Either way, it doesn’t paint a picture of a healthy financial situation down on Edmiston Drive. As Phil might say, Follow, Follow the money.
    To a real investigative journalist, this should be manna from heaven. To the plods in the Scottish media. “Nah! Nothing to see here.”

    • Mr Magoo says:

      I see that hadji git sent of on his return

      Does he still get his 6 grand pay rise whilst suspended.

      Looks as though he injured himself too.

      Extra 6 k a week to sit on his arse

      More money the huns can’t afford.

      Lmfao

  • Clachnacuddin and the Hoops says:

    A poor decision not to straight red him I’d say but then is anyone surprised at that given it was The Masonic Renfrew Hun in charge…

    Thankfully The Rutherglen one played by the rules on this occasion…

    That he got a massive round of applause shows The Pro Thuggery mindset of The Liebrox Klan…

    No doubt The Scummy’s of The Scummy Scottish Football Media will wheel out the apologetic words like ‘clumsy’ and ‘mistimed’ as opposed to the outright thuggery that it was…

    They were very lucky with the offside but it probably was a pubic hair in their favour…

    And St.Johnstone forced Butland into two decent saves as well –

    Like ourselves they scraped through in the end…

    Looks like the ‘impartial’ super computer has been unkind to us once again giving us a tough home game before travelling to Europa League Champions Atalanta then another away trip on our return…

    These anomalies- eh !

  • harold shand says:

    Notice how the Dortmund score is getting mentioned in every article / match report about Celtic but their midweek pumping at home has been totally forgotten

  • Kevan McKeown says:

    Haha ‘place on the mantlepiece’. Aye he must have a fair wee gallery by now. One missin from the collection (for now) and would take centre place if ah had my way, is gerrard. Hopefully they can bring him back asap and BR can expose him for the managerial fraud he is. Keep that wee centre spot on the mantlepiece available meantime Brendan.

  • SSMPM says:

    All true from an objective perspective but the longer he remains in post what does go well is the increase in his bank account. There must be a part of him that can’t believe his luck in shuffling from one failing stance to another, exposing weakness upon weakness. Yet he remains in post beyond what at least one better and more successful manager in GVB was allowed too and that having done a considerably better job yet he’ll leave his badly managed job a considerably wealthier man by far. Fantasy football

  • John says:

    I was astonished & dismayed to see Clement hug Hagi after his red card. It showed a total disregard for the injured St Johnstone player. Clement seems to have bought into the toxic ethos of theRanjurz FC.

  • Jim Maclean says:

    Yes clement has a dozen egg yolks on his face, ???????????

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