Philippe Clement will demand his players play on the front foot from the first whistle in a bid to finally topple Celtic in this afternoon’s Premier Sports Cup final.
Rangers head to Hampden as heavy underdogs to retain the trophy having not beaten their rivals in their last seven meetings, but buoyed by a strong midweek performance in the Europa League draw with Spurs.
Clement’s side started that match in positive fashion and retained an upbeat tempo throughout the 90 minutes, barely giving their visitors a second’s respite.
The Ibrox boss wants to see a similar approach today as he dismissed the notion of trying to frustrate Celtic, instead relishing the prospect of going toe-to-toe with Brendan Rodgers’ side in the hope of landing a first Old Firm victory since May 2023.
He said: ‘I always want to start on the front foot and winning duels. You cannot be dominant and you cannot win games if you are not in that state of mind.
‘Because then you only defend. And you need to suffer all the time and it’s not what we want. We want to create something. I didn’t ever park the bus even once in my entire career.
Clement wants to see his team attack Celtic from the very first whistle in the League Cup final
‘You want the team (to play positively) so it’s important to start like that otherwise it’s really difficult to make the switch during the game.
‘There are some really good teams in the world. And managers with a totally different philosophy that I respect a lot because they win a lot of trophies doing that, with the philosophy to defend, to sit in, to wait. And when they go behind, to change. Some do that. But it’s not the kind of football that I want to play.’
Rangers pushed Celtic close when the sides met in last season’s Scottish Cup final, only to be suckered by a 90th minute Adam Idah winner. Clement dismissed the relevance of that encounter given the subsequent overhaul of his playing squad but did concede that Celtic look stronger this season than last.
‘Different players, different game,’ said the Belgian of that Hampden setback in May. ‘A lot of different players on our side — on Celtic’s side not that much difference. But they have a bigger squad, more depth than last season. So they have been better than last season.
‘That’s also a reality we know. So we need to be better also. But we have a totally different squad than at that moment. So it’s now with this squad, getting the best out of them.
‘It’s about wanting to win every game, every competition, everything you play for. We are busy about lifting the trophy. That’s the only thing we are busy about in our minds.
‘We are all focused on that game, the next game. It’s a massive one, a nice one and you feel a lot of enthusiasm around it. From our fans, from the other side also. It’s really good games and two teams that want to play to win.’
Clement revealed Rangers have been practicing penalties for months now, something that could prove invaluable should the final stretch beyond 120 minutes.
Rangers controlled much of the game against Spurs in midweek, and Clement wants to see more of the same
With captain and regular taker James Tavernier not guaranteed to start the final, there is merit in ensuring every player is comfortable in that scenario.
‘We are practicing penalties but we have already been doing that all season,’ said the manager. ‘We have a list in the dressing room and I said to the players we will do it regularly.
‘The player who is last by the first week of January, there will be a sanction for that! So we are not doing that especially for this game, it’s been going on since the beginning of the season.’
One player almost certain to start the final is Nico Raskin, who enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a man-of-the match contribution against Spurs.
‘It’s a very important role because you need to keep balance in the team when you attack, when you defend,’ explained Clement. ‘Nico can do both roles in a really good way.
‘But he’s also really important in keeping a balance in the team. It was something we needed to rebuild, because we had two experienced players there last season who knew which moment to do what.
Vaclav Cerny once again impressed in Europe for Clement’s side
‘With the younger midfield, we had to work on that, to make it better again. To find this balance, to let him understand which moment to do what for the team. Nico is taking really big steps in that way. So I am really happy with the evolution he is making.’
l Philippe Clement was previewing live and exclusive coverage of the Premier Sports Cup final. Premier Sports is available to stream from premiersports.com or via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription.
