Ibrox Noise
·2 October 2024
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Yahoo sportsIbrox Noise
·2 October 2024
We have to laugh at the nonsense reporting from a major Scottish red top on the Ianis Hagi story, whereby they claim player pressure caused Rangers manager Philippe Clement to restore the Romanian to the first team squad.
This really is complete guff, and indeed the headline alone and summary of the story shows what rot it is.
The paper in question is alleging that Rangers’ Belgian manager was pressured by squad members to bring Hagi back, and while he does of course have a friend or two in the squad, the contradiction in this story is farcical:
How would emotional pressure on Clement make any difference to a contractual obligation the manager has absolutely no control over?
The further absurdity of this story is even worse when it tries to claim board members also put pressure on Clement to restore the lad, when they were the ones who were responsible for the clause and well aware of it. Of course it was ex-Sporting Director Ross Wilson who explicitly installed it, but the board was well aware, and it was of course documented.
So for the board to then turn round and allegedly put pressure on Clement, who had nothing to do with this clause, is absurd, ridiculous, and complete tabloid clickbait for the sake of it.
No, as we reported earlier, Hagi, the board, and the manager sorted this out in the last week, Hagi agreeing to forego the wage increase, the manager wanting more squad depth and the board refusing to pay his wage increase.
It suited everyone, slightly aside Hagi who doesn’t now get the extra wage he was technically entitled to.
But the idea the players and board were putting pressure on Clement over something he had zero say/choice in is some of the laziest clickbait journalism we’ve seen in a while.
Goodness me.