Watch Philippe Clement press conference in full as he denies Rangers are ‘zombies’ with defiant message for cynics
Bullish Philippe Clement insists Rangers are not "running around like zombies" as he tackled negativity around the club going into their return to Ibrox.
The Light Blues will return to home turf this weekend as they kick-off their defence of the Premier Sports Cup against Dundee having spent the opening weeks of the season at Hampden Park amid delays in construction work on the Copland Road Stand. The win over Dundee United last weekend in the Scottish Premiership got Rangers back on track after a difficult start to the campaign - with temperatures reaching boiling point on the steps of Ibrox with fans confronting the players and boss after defeat to Celtic.
But Clement insists the win at Tannadice was the remedy the club needed after their lacklustre showing on derby day. Speaking before the visit of Tony Docherty's side, he was asked if the club needed a lift as they prepare to return to Govan. He responded: "It's quite a negative if you talk like that, it's like everybody's running around here like zombies with their head down. And it's not the case.
"You saw the game last week, moments in games in the weeks before. You see we're rebuilding a squad, new players coming in. There are a lot of positives here. I don't like to speak about individual players too much, so I will not go into that.
"But you start to see the first fruits of the seeds that are planted and it's just the first start. We're just starting with that. So I want to see confirmation of that and becoming stronger and stronger week by week, month by month. That's the thing.
"Of course, if it's in Ibrox with all the support behind, it lifts players in that moment. And I think it will be for the fans also totally different. They will be back with the people they are used to being with in the stands, next to them, behind them, in front of them, to have the talks again like they had before, to have the memories of before. Yeah, it's like coming home with your family."