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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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'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.
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'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.'
