Clement’s deflection tactics are drawing the scorn even of the hacks who once hailed him.

On Sunday, in the aftermath of his side’s latest reversal, the manager at Ibrox was full of his usual rubbish. He blamed the officials for the penalty kick, had a showdown with the referee after the game, and demanded yet another statement from Willie Collum.

It seems to me that the people at Ibrox think Collum’s sole purpose is to issue statements on their behalf. Once again, it appears to be an Ibrox club being allowed to criticise officials with carte blanche.

Yesterday morning, I published Fear and Loathing in Leith. In that piece, I talked about Clement’s notorious newspaper interview where he decried the lack of a winning mentality in his former wife and kids. I’ve always thought that was one of the most bizarre media interviews ever given, and I can’t imagine what the reaction would have been had a Celtic manager said anything like it.

But if this is the kind of “winning mentality” he tried to teach—a mentality where you never admit you’ve been beaten fairly, never take responsibility for a negative result, and refuse to even acknowledge such results as significant—then I won’t be surprised if his wife and kids openly mock him.

Because he doesn’t sound like a natural-born winner. He sounds like a whining loser. Rodgers takes responsibility when we don’t win. Rodgers lets it hurt, uses it as fuel, and turns it into motivation. You only have to listen to his comments from after the game on Sunday, where he was still clearly angry and frustrated by events at Ibrox days before. That’s how I want my manager to be.

I cannot remember Clement ever coming out after another team beat his and giving that team credit. I can’t recall him ever taking a shred of responsibility for a negative result. He’s always either trying to put a positive spin on it—which drives their fans mad—or finding some excuse to deflect the blame. By and large, he gets away with it.

What I found instructive yesterday is that much of the media is now criticising him for it. They recognise these excuses as deflection tactics and are openly calling him out for it. You can only pull this trick so many times before people see right through it. Clement is deluded if he thinks he can indefinitely hide behind such pitiful fig leaves. The truth is, he’s just not that good a coach.

Every manager in this league knows there will be refereeing decisions that go against their team. Few are given the luxury of dwelling on them. And no manager, aside from him, is allowed to so consistently criticise officials and question their ability or integrity. But his club gets away with it—and they shouldn’t. This has been written about on many blogs, highlighting the SFA’s weakness in failing to act.

But Clement is the one who’s truly weak. It’s reached the point where some of his claims are laughable. Can you imagine the disconnect from reality required for an Ibrox manager to pull John Beaton aside after a game to complain about a decision?

Beaton is one of the last referees in the league who would willingly give decisions against that team. The only reason Beaton and the VAR officials have been forced to now is because every decision must be explained. That’s what VAR was introduced to do, and it’s why some of us supported it from the start.

More and more people in the mainstream press are accusing Clement of hiding behind refereeing decisions. Even his own supporters have had enough of it. They’re sick and tired of it, and they recognise it for exactly what it is.

Some of them aren’t afraid to say so.

Every Ibrox boss has been given a certain amount of leeway with the media to conjure up excuses, but Clement has overplayed it. He’s run out of goodwill. The truth is that Hibs were back in the game by the time they got their penalty, and that was as much down to Clement’s poor decision-making as anything else.

The Hibs manager did what Rodgers couldn’t at Ibrox—he made tactical changes that turned the game. Clement reacted far too late. Teams don’t fear his side, especially at home, and he’s one of the reasons why.

And why should any team fear a manager who never credits the opposition, never takes responsibility for mistakes, and always thinks his team is one game away from being world-beaters? Why would any manager in this league fear someone whose decision-making is poor, whose man-management is terrible, whose tactical awareness is all over the place, and whose game-management skills are virtually non-existent?

Clement can fish for excuses all he wants, but it’s not just fans and the media refusing to buy it this time. People at his own club—the ones who will ultimately decide his future—must now be wondering what he’s all about and when he’s going to take the time to analyse his own performance.

Because if he doesn’t, they’ll have to do it for him. And when that time comes, I don’t think they’ll be lenient.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

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