Philippe Clement admits he faces a ‘massive challenge’ to rebuild the Rangers squad this summer after seeing his side suffer another Old Firm defeat in the Scottish Cup final.
Clement ended his first campaign at Ibrox with only the League Cup to show for his efforts following a heart-breaking Hampden loss on Saturday. Adam Idah netted the only goal of the game in the closing seconds as Rangers were left to rue their missed chances and a controversial decision from referee Nick Walsh to disallow an Abdallah Sima opener in the second half.
Several members of Clement’s squad are out of contract in the coming days and the likes of Borna Barisic, John Lundstram and Kemar Roofe will move on this summer. Clement has already added Jefte, the Brazilian left-back, to his ranks for next term but will need to significantly overhaul the group he inherited from Michael Beale in October.
“It is a massive challenge because there is not much time,” Clement said after seeing Rangers fail to beat Celtic for the fifth time this season. “That is the reality. You have qualifying games for Champions League in August, you have five league game also so that is nine games in four weeks. You need to rebuild the squad. We have several players out of contract who will leave the building so you need to replace them without money coming inside. That is also one thing. We need to be really inventive in our transfers and doing the smart things.
“It is going to be really challenging but we are busy already with that for months within the club. You see already that we bring in Jefte yesterday, who is a young player, talented. They will need also their time to adapt. How long? That is always difficult to predict. Some players they adapt really fast, some players need more time but we are working hard to get more quality in the building.”
The story could have been very different for Rangers had Walsh not been asked to go to the VAR monitor and then decided to rule out Sima’s bundled effort from a James Tavernier corner. Nicolas Raskin was adjudged to have fouled keeper Joe Hart before Sima scored. Clement insisted Rangers were the better team on the day at Hampden and was left to rue a moment that he was sure would have set his side on their way to a famous Old Firm triumph.
“I am also proud about what the team have showed today,” Clement said. “Do we need to take steps? Yes. We get two shots on target today, we get a goal. We created six shots on target. We need to score in that moment. If you have the scenario also that you score goals and they are disallowed in that way, that is also in that moment a disappointment when I compare with the push that Scales gives to Dujon Sterling in the first half. It is a much bigger push than what happened with Joe Hart. If I see also how all the Celtic defenders are grabbing my players and having their arms around their neck, around their waist, it is a really big call to make to disallow that goal.”
The winner from Idah was a tough blow for Clement to stomach. Keeper Jack Butland failed to deal with an effort from Matt O’Riley and it was Idah that reacted quickest to convert from close range. It was a rare blip in a standout season for Butland but Clement refused to point the finger of blame at the Englishman.
“No I don’t think so,” Clement said when asked if Butland felt he should have done better with the goal. “It is a really difficult shot. Jack was in the rest of the game really good, and Joe Hart was really good. So, no. I don’t think… You can always say details and he should have pushed the ball to the side but the ball was really going like that. That is an unlucky moment.”
