PHILIPPE Clement has warned his Rangers players he will not tolerate any “stupid” ill-discipline when they face Aberdeen at Pittodrie this afternoon as he prepares to experience one of Scottish football’s fiercest rivalries for the first time.
Clement is no stranger to derby matches having been involved in many big games as a player and a coach during his career and the Belgian is well aware that tensions in the stands can often have an impact on proceedings on the park.
However, the former Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco manager, who has won all four of the cinch Premiership matches he has overseen since being appointed last month, will not accept his charges picking up needless yellow or red cards.
Rangers crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen art Ibrox at the end of September after Scott Wright was sent off in the second half and manager Michael Beale was sacked afterwards.
Asked if he has been told about the intensity of the Aberdeen v Rangers fixture, Clement said: “Nobody has told me much. I read newspapers sometimes and people tell me what’s in them.
“One of my first messages towards the team was that every game was important and we need to have respect for every opponent. I want to see a team that plays the same against Real Madrid and Ross County.
“So I see the team understands it’s important to be like that and they did it in a good way over the last couple of weeks. They’re not busy with the noise around, they’re busy with what they do on pitch.
“That would be stupid (to get caught up in the occasion) so it’s what we try to avoid. For the moment, I don’t have this fear. We’ve all seen it in the past with several teams, but I don’t like it when I see it in my team. That’s why I try to avoid it, by explaining these things.
“They should be ready to play out game, not be busy with what’s going on around the pitch or discussions with referees or opponents. I want there to be a pure focus on us.”
Clement added: “When I played as a young guy I was at Beerschot and there were two clubs in Antwerp, Beerschot and Antwerp.
“There’s a big rivalry there – you can compare it with Celtic and Rangers because it’s two teams in the same city. Then in Bruges we had two teams in the same stadium, which was also special. So I’ve seen a few things like that.
“I like challenges, I like to see a team that likes challenges. It brings the best out of me and the best out of the team. We need to be on our toes, we need to be sharp, we need to recover well, we will need all the squad. Those are the things I like.
“Of course, it’s difficult to get all the points, but we’re going to try and take as many as we can and to be focused on ourselves and our football, how to win games with and without the ball.
“The bigger the opponent is, with more quality, the more challenges, the faster you learn things about the team and the squad towards the future, which is also really important.”
