Clement’s broken record – Five defeats and a draw in six games against Celtic

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The Celtic Star

·16 dicembre 2024

Clement’s broken record – Five defeats and a draw in six games against Celtic

Philippe Clement insists his side’s dramatic penalty shootout defeat to Celtic at Hampden Park was a ‘big blow,’ as the Hoops once again found a way to lift yet another trophy…

Celtic celebrations after the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

It is now Clement’s fifth loss to the Hoops in six matches since arriving in Glasgow in October last year. His dreadful Glasgow Derby record comes as his opposite number Brendan Rodgers won his 16th game from 20 in this fixture over his two spells as boss at Celtic.

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Speaking post-match, the Belgian manager lamented the match officials for not awarding theRangers a penalty in the first half of extra time when Celtic’s half-time substitute Liam Scales pulled back Vaclav Cerny as the Czech winger was making his way into the box.

Clement said: “I don’t know if you saw the images back, but my phone is overloaded with the penalty situation with Cerny. I get hundreds of messages now about that. That’s also a really decisive moment in the game.”

“Of course, he [John Beaton] cannot see that moment. But he didn’t get the communication from the VAR to come to watch the screen, which for me is a really weird situation. At least there’s no look about that kind of situation in this kind of game, about the situation that the referee can make a decision in that way.

“I didn’t see it at the time because I still have quite good eyes, but I cannot see that much distance if the foot is outside or inside or on the line.

Auston Trusty celebrates after the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

“So no, but my phone is full of messages from everybody. I don’t know. So those are things I cannot control.”

He added: “I know that all of you like to dig deep into things. So maybe it’s also a very important moment to dig into that, about why there’s no communication in that moment about a big decision like that, because it’s clear for everybody it’s a game-decisive decision. I hope that you guys really dig in to things. I hope.”

When asked about Cameron Carter-Vickers crucial tackle at 0-1 minutes before Greg Taylor’s important equaliser, Clement reckoned his team’s missed opportunity was undoubtedly a decisive moment in the match.

“It’s a massive one and that’s a really disappointing one that we made the wrong choice there because on the left side we had two players free,” he said. “So that’s also for sure a crucial point in the game but we grabbed a lot of moments in this game.

Celtic celebrations after the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

“We’re getting better and better and that’s our ambition now. It’s a big blow not to have this trophy, clearly, but it’s now important that it doesn’t stop the hunger and desire that’s in the squad to become better and better because we’re going to work on that.”

Meanwhile, Celtic maintained their unbeaten run across the league and Scottish League Cup this season courtesy of their dramatic victory in the southside, and win a third consecutive domestic trophy putting themselves in a strong position to deliver a truly memorable season.

Celtic now have a few weeks where it’s back to one game a week and that will give Brendan Rodgers some time to work with the players at Lennoxtown with less of the grind of playing, resting and recovery on repeat with no real time to work on things in training. Hopefully we’ll see our form picking up again, as we start to look towards the game at Ibrox on 2nd January.

For Clement and theRangers, it is yet more deja-vu as their rivals inflicted another painful day at the national stadium and the excuses are coming thick and fast.

Conor Spence

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