Philippe Clement replaced Michael Beale as manager of the Rangers earlier in the season and one has to admit that things have improved for the Ibrox club since then. They have already won the Scottish League Cup and made it out of their UEFA Europa League group. They do remain behind Celtic in the Premiership title race though.
Celtic and the Rangers have faced each other twice this season till now. On both occasions, the Ibrox club have come up short, as the Hoops have continued their good run in the Glasgow Derby.
Neil Lennon is someone who knows everything about what it takes to succeed in Scotland and in Glasgow, both as a player and as a manager. And he recently questioned the mentality of the Rangers.
As reported by Football Scotland, Clement was asked about the comments in his press conference and replied:
"I am happy people outside of the club help to motivate my players. I now need to put less time into that myself. The players have shown a lot of mentality in the last couple of months.
“Even at Celtic Park with ten players, they did that. So we cannot speak about mentality in that way until now.
“We just need to confirm that in the next months."
Clement thanks Celtic legend for helping him
It remains to be seen how much motivation the Rangers players end up getting from Lennon's recent comments. It has certainly been a topic of discussion in Scottish footballing circles lately.
Of course, Clement's biggest task is coming up next, which is to maintain the Rangers' form and results. There are quite a few managers who have gotten off to great starts at Ibrox only for things to fade away.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst won the Scottish Cup and guided them to the Europa League final. Beale has a solid record in the 2022/23 campaign as well. Neither of them lasted long in the Ibrox hot seat.
Brendan Rodgers knows how to deal with the pressure of delivering in Glasgow. Does Clement? We shall find out. There is not much between the two teams in the league table right now. Celtic were cruising at one stage but a bad run of form allowed the Rangers a way back in. Everything depends on the second half of the season.