Philippe Clement in astonishing Rangers blame game as flop boss calls out two players over title collapse
Philippe Clement has pinned a huge part of Rangers' title collapse in his first season in charge at Ibrox on John Lundstram and Borna Barisic.
Although not naming either of the duo, he admitted that two players who were out of contract were distracted by trying to sort out their next career move during the tense run-in.
Advertisement
The Light Blues hauled themselves back into a title race they seemed to be well out of when Clement replaced Michael Beale at Ibrox in October 2023.
READ MORE: Rangers transfer news as Russell Martin 'eyes' ambitious Ramsdale reunion and Poku interest escalates
READ MORE: Celtic book medical for striker as Kyogo set for emotional homecoming – transfer bulletin
But they managed to get back into it and even hit top spot in the league at one stage before falling away spectacularly towards the end.
They lost at Ross County and drew against Dundee at Dens Park with a defeat at Celtic Park in the final derby of the season.
Advertisement
Rangers eventually finished eight points behind their rivals. The contracts of Lundstram and Barisic were both ticking towards expiring and they ended up joining Turkish side Trabzonspor.
John Lundstram applauds Borna Barisic (left)
Clement, in an interview with BBC Scotland, said it wasn't an ideal situation - and one the club should always be looking to avoid.
Barisic was hooked early in the 3-2 defeat in Dingwall and the Croatian defender didn't featured at Dens Park. And they were both left out of the XI for the Scottish Cup final against Celtic at the end of the season, with Lundstram coming on for the final minute.
Clement said: 'There are some stories if you look back. Indeed, in the first season nobody in Scotland expected Rangers to come back in be in a title race when we arrived in October.
Advertisement
'The players did it but in the end we lost the game at Ross County and three days later dropped points at Dundee.
'If I look back, two players who were not good in those two games they left at the end of the season on a free transfer.
'They were at that moment busy also talking with other teams with their agents, about their future and all those things.
'Probably, and maybe, it had an affect on them. Did they not want to become Rangers? For sure not. They wanted to become champions and give everything.
'But the situation to be at the end of the contract at that moment of the season was also not a good one.
Advertisement
'You need to see as a club that it's about stability and consistency that you don't come in these situations too much in the important moments of the season.
Rangers' John Lundstram -Credit:SNS Group
'You want everything to be clear so players can focus solely on football and I think it played a part in that end of the season in those two games where the shift was made in the championship.'
'It's a pity we couldn't win the championship coming out of a situation where nobody thought we could win it.
The Belgian admitted that league loss was his biggest regret, with the Premier Sports Cup win over Aberdeen at Hampden his proudest.
He was axed this season, with Russell Martin named permanent successor last week.
He said: '(My) most proud (moment) - because all that matters is winning things - would be winning the league cup and biggest regret would be being close for the title in that first season and not getting it over the line, and also the two cup finals where were very close.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
3 hours ago
- Associated Press
Josh Smith homers and scores all 3 runs for the Texas Rangers in a 3-1 win over the White Sox
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Josh Smith homered and scored all three Texas runs in his fifth consecutive two-hit game to help the Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1 on Friday night. The leadoff hitter had a single in the first and scored on Corey Seager's sacrifice fly. Smith's seventh homer was a 396-foot drive to right-center in the third, then he walked ahead of Marcus Semien's RBI double that made it 3-0 in the fifth. Smith was 2 for 3 with a walk and is hitting .435 (10 for 23) during a career-best streak of five multihit games. Jacob Webb (4-3), the second of seven pitchers in a bullpen game for the Rangers, worked two innings for the victory as they won for the fifth time in six games. Robert Garcia loaded the bases in the ninth before closing out his fifth save in seven chances. White Sox starter Adrian Houser (2-2) allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. He struck out two and walked four. Shawn Armstrong started for Texas and struck out five while retiring all nine batters the first three innings. His season highs before Friday were seven batters faced and three strikeouts. Luis Robert was the first White Sox hitter to reach base, on an infield single with two outs in the fifth when he was initially called out before a replay challenge. He also had an RBI double in the seventh. Key moment The White Sox had a run in and two on in the seventh when Texas reliever Chris Martin retired the only two batters he faced. Key stat Seager is 4 for 45 (.089) with 15 strikeouts in 13 games since returning from the injured list May 28. But he has drawn a walk in a career-best eight games in a row after two more free passes. Up next Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (6-2, 2.12 ERA) has allowed two runs over fewer in each of his last 10 starts The White Sox hadn't announced who will start for them Saturday. ___ AP MLB:
New York Post
8 hours ago
- New York Post
Chris Drury left with much-needed flexibility after Chris Kreider's Rangers exit
Access the Rangers beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers. tRY IT NOW Chris Kreider's becoming a cap casualty was not the way anyone would've liked to see the 13-year Ranger go, but it was a decision the organization deemed necessary to set itself up for an important offseason. The Blueshirts wanted to execute the trade early to ensure cap flexibility and cost certainty heading into the NHL draft in Los Angeles on June 27-28 and the beginning of the free agency window on July 1 at noon. Advertisement While seeing Kreider in Ducks orange feels wrong in so many ways, the Rangers essentially obtained a second-round prospect, Carey Terrance, and moved up 15 spots in this year's draft in exchange for the 34-year-old wing. 3 Chris Kreider, pictured after an April 17 game, was traded to the Ducks on June 12. Charles Wenzelberg This in addition to taking his full $6.5 million cap hit off the books over the next two seasons.
New York Times
12 hours ago
- New York Times
After Kreider trade, what comes next for core-shuffling Rangers? Analyzing the possible moves
Chris Drury kicked off another transitional offseason in New York on Thursday, moving Chris Kreider and the two years and $13 million remaining on the veteran forward's contract. Unlike last June, the Rangers general manager did so without ruffling too many feathers. The first of Drury's core-shuffling moves came 12 months ago when he put Barclay Goodrow on waivers to get around Goodrow's no-trade list, which produced a rather negative effect on the Rangers. They limped through a miserable 2024-25 season while Drury continued to alter the roster, though not to any satisfactory completion with the team missing the playoffs. Advertisement So moving out the longest-tenured Ranger in Kreider was a necessary start to an important summer. The NHL draft looms in two weeks and Drury will have to decide before June 25 whether to send the No. 12 pick to the Penguins to complete the J.T. Miller trade with Vancouver — the later Canucks flipped that conditional first-rounder to the Penguins for Marcus Pettersson — or keep it and risk losing an unprotected first-rounder to division-rival Pittsburgh in 2026. Still a lot to do for the Rangers GM, who by all accounts is still aggressively working to change as much as possible and give himself the most cap flexibility ahead of the start of free agency on July 1. With Kreider's contract off the books, the Rangers have just under $15-million in cap space but only 16 skaters signed for next season, including five defensemen. That's still nowhere near enough to make the sort of changes Drury is seeking, whether that's trying to offer-sheet a young player or acquire a high-level talent. Let's see which players could be next on the way out, who might be looked at to replace them, and how each move would impact the cap and the roster: The Rangers are seemingly wary of giving the 25-year-old restricted free agent any term on a new deal, so if Miller stays it would be a two-year contract that walks him right up to unrestricted free agency in 2027. That's not ideal for the Rangers either, though it would allow new coach Mike Sullivan and old coach/new defense assistant coach David Quinn a chance to see if Miller can return to the upward trajectory he had after 2022-23, when he was one of the top 50 defensemen in the league. And the problem with trading Miller is that he's unsigned at the moment, so no matter who the Rangers get back — young defensemen like the Sabres' Bown Byram or the Kings' Jordan Spence — cap space will still be subtracted, even with Spence's modest $1.5-million salary for 2025-26. (Like Miller, Byram is an RFA due for a decent raise from the $3.85-million he made last season). Signing Miller to a bridge deal for, say, two years at $5 million annually eats into the cap space. But so does trading like for like. Advertisement If the Rangers allow Miller to sign an offer sheet and take the draft-pick compensation — most likely either a first- and third-rounder if the offer sheet AAV is between $4.68-7 million, or a first, second and third if it's between $7-9.3 million — that might work out cap-wise, but not roster-wise, since the Rangers would have Carson Soucy, Urho Vaakanainen and RFAs Zac Jones and Matthew Robertson on the left side. You're not winning anything with that group. The Rangers have interest in unrestricted free agent Vladislav Gavrikov if he hits the market on July 1, and he's looking for seven years at around $7-million. Trading Miller opens up a spot for Gavrikov but not the requisite cap space. His name has been out there before but the 2020 No. 1 pick signed a seven-year, $7.45-million-per-year deal in October, meaning another team would have to be fully sold on Lafrenière consistently becoming a player the Rangers have only sporadically seen. Getting back fair value for that sort of inconsistent top talent, even he is still only 23, will be extremely difficult. As with Miller, the best course of action may be waiting to see whether Sullivan (Lafreniere's fourth new coach in six years) can unlock his skill. Kreider's departure means there's an opening on the top power-play unit and on the left side, Lafrenière's preferred wing. Maybe that's the right way to go. The catch is that moving Lafrenière's cap hit could be the only way Drury has to create serious cap space heading into the draft and free agency. It's a gamble to give up on highly touted young players — if Laf thrives elsewhere, that deal could become incredibly team-friendly as the cap goes up. There's a chance that Drury has already worked it out with Zibanejad, who has five year at a $8.5 million average annual value remaining plus a full no-move clause, that moving on would be best. They'd still need to find a fit —the Leafs might have some interest and some space to fill — but trading Kreider's BFF soon after dealing Kreider would produce the impact on cap flexibility and team culture Drury so badly wants. Advertisement Zibanejad holds the cards, though, and he gave no indication before the season ended that he was interested in leaving. Of the headline-making moves Drury could still pull off in the coming weeks, this one helps the Rangers the most, especially since J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck have two of the center spots nailed down. The Rangers would be able to replace Zibanejad via the wing UFA market, which would yield far more bargains than finding a top-six center. This one is a no-brainer. Soucy has a full no-trade until July 1 but getting his $3.25-million off the books so the Rangers can upgrade on the left side of the defense feels like a must if the changes are still coming. This season's deadline-day move for Soucy seemed like a decent shot at a reclamation project, but not going forward with all the Rangers want to do. Drury still has to sign RFAs Matt Rempe and Adam Edström, which eats up about $2-million more of their cap space. Will Cuylle likely comes in around $3.5-million. Trading K'Andre Miller for futures and signing Gavrikov leaves around $3-million to replace Kreider in the top nine, plus there are still holes everywhere. Something more is coming soon. Drury knows he can't stop now. The Rangers came into this offseason more worried about an offer sheet poaching either K'Andre Miller or, far worse, Cuylle, who has a lot of value and upside here and elsewhere. Now, it appears the Rangers want to be the aggressors on the little-used offer sheet market. Sabres forward J.J. Peterka seems to be one of the offer-sheet options, as it's clear he wants out of Buffalo. The problem for the Rangers is that the sort of offer that would give the Sabres pause isn't possible — the Rangers do not own their 2026 second-rounder for an offer between $7-9.3 million per, which would require them to surrender surrendering their 2026 first, second and third-round picks. (Using another team's picks to complete an offer sheet isn't allowed.) The Rangers could get their second-rounder back from Utah — it went to Arizona in the Patrik Nemeth salary dump three years ago — and then make their move. Or they could hope that an offer sheet in the $4.86-7-million range with enough difficult bonuses would scare Buffalo away. Advertisement Peterka and the Rangers were connected via the rumor mill at the March trade deadline, but a Rangers source swatted that one down. The team's interest now in Peterka could be legit but it's hard to see Buffalo accepting a first and a third to walk away from a 23-year-old who just put up 68 points. If the Sabres badly wanted Lafrenière this might work, but the straight offer-sheet route looks awfully difficult at the moment. An offer sheet would also mean that Drury gives up this year's No. 12 pick to the Penguins and an unprotected first-rounder next season. Better be right doing that. (Top photo of Miller: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
