Glasgow is getting to big Phil- Sutton amused as Ibrox boss gets ‘remarkably petty’

Chris Sutton was an amused bystander as Phil Clement was drawn into an uncomfortable ‘war of words’ with Brendan Rodgers.

In terms of mind games saying that you’re side will have a bit of fun is hardly Ferguson v Keegan or Mourinho v Wengers.

The Celtic boss was speaking after his side beat Hearts 3-0 on Saturday, while the media chased after a title declaration Rodgers gently deflected by saying his side would have some fun in Saturday’s Glasgow Derby.

Most manager would gently brush aside being questioned for a reaction but at Ibrox on Sunday Clement jumped in feet first.

Sutton watched the 4-1 victory from the Sky Sports studio inside Ibrox but the fireworks came afterwards in the post match interviews.

Picking up on his comments on the All Kicking Off podcast, the Daily Record reports the former Sutton saying:

I think Glasgow is getting to Big Phil, as it gets to everybody who plays or works in the city. It’s a goldfish bowl. It’s tense, but he also made a couple of reasonable points.

He said they were behind when they came in by seven points and now it’s three, but they did have it in their hands. Rangers lost to Ross County and dropped points to Dundee.

What was remarkably petty is that Philippe Clement said it was disrespectful towards his team and that he would never say that about an opponent – he then went out and did the interview with Sky and said that they were also going to have fun.

You couldn’t quite make it up. It just adds a bit more spice to a game that doesn’t need any more spice.

Neither manager is expected to give any interviews until Friday’s pre-match conferences which will be all-in with Sky Sports given a one-to-one with each manager. Clement will also give a newspaper interview, something that Rodgers has recently given up on.

Pre-match on Saturday BBC Scotland and Sky Sports will interview both manager with the after-match interviews sure to be lively with the opposing managers under the same roof.