Philippe Clement reveals Rangers rage after boos at the break as hairdryer treatment sparks Dundee turnaround
Philippe Clement delivered a half-time rocket to his ragged Rangers side as they completed a two-goal comeback against Dundee at Ibrox to eventually stroll to a 5-2 win and leave Celtic still needing a point to clinch the Scottish Premiership.
Just days after the Old Firm derby defeat that effectively killed off their title hopes, a sparse home crowd was stunned when the Dark Blues took a two-goal lead late in the first half. Ross McCausland crucially pulled one back before half-time - with the boos ringing out as they went off at the break - and Cyriel Dessers levelled after the restart with Todd Cantwell netting a cross-cum-shot before substitute Scott Wright scored a late brace.
But the Belgian was fizzing at the break as he said after the game: “Yeah I was angry (at half-time), because the players didn't reward themselves. I was very angry. We had good intentions with the ball but not enough without it. We need to stand up in that way and show more. If it had been 0-2 at half time I would have used the same words because it wasn’t like ‘no problem’. There were problems but we had to do it much better second half.
“Once we did that then they showed we are a really good team. They have showed that in the last couple of months at times but we need to be more consistent. In the second half we did better, but it's with and without the ball. It showed the resilience at this club and in the dressing room because after the disappointment of a few days ago, going behind and getting the boos of the fans shows the resilience still in the group and we need to show that in the last two games of the season and build towards next season to be more consistent.
“We have lessons to take out of that and to continue working on those things for the next ten days. It was a well deserved win and we did really good things on the ball but in the first half we conceded stupid goals.
"We missed the reaction after losing the ball. It was only thinking with the ball. And then you get in trouble and then you have to make yourself angry at half time and then you see the reaction and they show what they can do.
“It was a very important evening with a lot of quality goals, with a lot of young guys out of the Academy coming on the pitch who showed that for months they have been training with the first team and learning the principles of how we want to play and doing the right things on the pitch so it's a really great experience for them.
“Ridvan was playing a really good game after a long injury and good on the ball but he wasn’t switched on at that moment (conceding the first goal). Players coming back from injury need to get back into that rhythm. It’s now about these last two games to go forward and that was an important one.”