PHILIPPE CLEMENT can’t do much right at the moment in the eyes of many Rangers fans.
And supporters of the Ibrox side were perplexed that the under-fire gaffer chose to single Hamza Igamane out for criticism in the wake of the damaging 1-1 draw which his side suffered on Tayside.
Igamane (left) got a fine assist on the night but manager Clement wasn’t happy[/caption]
Rangers manager Philippe Clement and Rangers’ Hamza Igamane at the final whistle[/caption]
It is, of course, every manager’s right to praise or criticise his team as he sees fit and Clement may have had a point when he said: “Hamza was for me too much on the sides, and not in the box.
“That for me is a working point and one for me to address to him.
“That was one thing and to be more decisive in the last pass.”
But it was a group malaise rather than an individual problem as the Ibrox side dropped points on their travels for the fourth away game in a row .
If Igamane was going looking for work it was out of desperation to help a team which was struggling.
And he did come up with a real moment of quality on the night, the assist which led to Vaclav Cerny‘s goal.
And judging by responses on Twitter, the comments from Clement certainly seemed to raise eyebrows amongst a section of the club’s support.
One fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Turning on the player that’s basically keeping you in a job of late is bizarre.
“I think the manager needs put out his misery as much as the rest of us do.”
“The fact Clement singled out Hamza Igamane as not being in the right positions was absolutely disgusting.
“He only started playing in the team at the end of Oct and has 11 goals.
“He secured 3 away points from 12 available with a double and a hat trick and an assist last night.”
A second wrote: “Still cannot get over Clement having a dig at Igamane in his post-match interview last night. Embarrassing from the Rangers manager.”
Another fan wrote: “If he was the problem then why not sub him off?”
A fourth replied: “Or better still a simple instruction to get in the box, you know, like a manager would do?
“Hamza was coming deeper because he wasn’t getting ANY service and also to try to get the midfield functioning better as it was hopeless last night.”
One man who did get praise from his manager was defender Clinton Nsiala, who got a decent debut under his belt.
The big French defender got the benefit of the doubt on a penalty appeal on Simon Murray in the lead-up to Rangers‘ equaliser but generally did okay on his first senior appearance.
Clement said: “I think Clinton did a good game for his first game. But we didn’t show enough on the offensive part to make the difference and break open the game.”
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