GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 25: Rangers Manager Philippe Clement looks dejected after collecting the runners-up medal during a Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final match between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park, on May 25, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Chris Sutton has warned Phil Clement of the dangers of losing to Celtic tomorrow.
A Proper Football Manager has one moral victory and three Derby defeats on his CV, tomorrow he takes his austerity squad to face Celtic where £20m duo Adam Idah and Arne Engels aren’t certain to start the match.
From Champions League to the Europa equivalent, from a 60,000 capacity stadium to being homeless there has rarely been such a contrast between the two clubs in the eight year history of the fixture.
Rodgers destroyed the Warburton Revolution! in his first ever Derby match, Rodgers II killed off the Brains Behind Gerrard a year ago with a 1-0 win at Ibrox anchored by two rookies in central defence in front of 50,000 baying bears.
A 1-0 defeat might allow Clement to claim another moral victory but if it is another 5-1 reverse the former Monaco boss will be under extreme pressure ahead of the Autumn Sacking Season at Ibrox.
In the Daily Record Sutton warned:
A heavy defeat could only add to the feeling of doom around the Ibrox club. A trouncing would make the pressure unbearable for the Rangers board and manager. Clement is already up against it. He’s failed to beat Celtic in five attempts and there won’t be much patience from supporters if he comes a cropper again, regardless of whether his hands have been tied or not.
I’ve never seen Gers fans so low and if it goes belly up again the anger levels will soar, given the carry on with Ibrox and the transfer window. I’m not reading too much into the 6-0 Ross County win, as much as it was needed. There is a desperation about Rangers right now. That makes them dangerous. They have been written off and told they have no chance on Sunday. It might just motivate them to prove people wrong.
The bad news for them is Rodgers and Callum McGregor won’t allow Celtic to fall into the trap of believing it will be a stroll. We’ve seen the pair of them in this situation before where Rangers are huge underdogs – and they’ve shown no mercy.
Over 18 Derby matches Rodgers has lost just once- up against an incredible display from John Beaton in December 2018 which prompted a sheepish statement from the Celtic board that was ignored by the SFA
In April Rodgers described Beaton as incompetent on AR duty at Tynecastle with the regular from the Crown Bar in Bellshill in charge of tomorrow’s match with his pal Andrew Dallas on VAR.
Rodgers knows the main threats to his team- and the rewards of delivering victory as the latest Ibrox Revolution! toils for respectability watched by sceptical bears.
If there’s anything controversial tomorrow regarding Beaton and or VAR this board must come out and turn their full force on the SFA , not only are they poorly regarded by the fans at the moment, but do exactly what sevco done to ensure there’s
no way Beaton continues to oversee which is more or less match fixing .
Here it is in a nutshell,ask any nickel&dime twobob journalist or the ARSEHOLES who host those moan-in shows,why are Scottish referees and their assistants not being picked for European tournaments when they come around or World Cups?
Just where did sevco get the £3.4 million to buy a player from tgat is the big question?
Provident cheques?
The Ibroxland board in it’s infinite wisdom decided to improve and extend Mr Clem- ohn’s lucrative contract recently . Now ,the stats and form guide allows Celtic fans to think that theRangers are onto a thrashing tomorrow . Allowing for that scenario to occur and mad theRangers fans demanding big Phil gets pumped from his job , their board ,crumbling like the stadium to the pressure , agrees to the sacking and pays out compensation to the length of his newly extended contract …much more dough ,which they don’t have . Aren’t those guys just the best …the best of the rest ! Still ,there are other genuises out there willing to pay £150 million pounds to buy such a thriving business and clumpany ?
Watch Beaton in the second half when he let’s sevco get away with what he booked |Celtic players for in the first half! (And Four-penny too)!