Effective management is far more intricate than a simple box-ticking process. Yet having said that, Philippe Clement is starting to simplify everything.
Put an end to the decay that was destroying Michael Beale’s reputation. Verify. Utilize the same players and still be able to totally alter their performance and form? Verify. Eat up a sizable portion of Celtic’s lead in the standings? Verify. Make it to the Europa League’s round of 16? Verify. and take home the session’s first domestic trophy? One that the Rangers have been missing for over ten years? Yes, he has also completed that task.
If it hadn’t been occurring right here, on the doorstep that they seem so determined to ruin, it might have been simpler for those on the opposing side of Glasgow’s divide to ignore it all. Really, the events of yesterday at Hampden, where James Tavernier’s winner in the second half of the game ended the Viaplay Cup Final, felt like a very seismic shift in momentum, especially considering that it occurred just 24 hours after chaos was erupting at Parkhead once more.
After suffering his second straight league loss, Clement is now squarely focused on Brendan Rodgers. And now, before he enters the January sales, the Belgian has the opportunity to lead Rangers to the summit of the table.
To be honest, considering the really poor condition in which this group was in when Clement took over from Beale, his accomplishments in a short period of time are quite amazing. And now would seem to be a good time to get a grip if there is anyone at Celtic who is still in denial.
They are currently engaged in a real struggle for domestic supremacy, and all the “sack the boards” in the world won’t help Rodgers complete this Rangers comeback. They appear to be divided and blind to the harm they are causing to themselves at a time when the champions need to come together and stand united.
Indeed, it last felt that way only a few years ago when Rangers went on to win a first title since hitting the financial skids. As they celebrated another piece of silverware yesterday, together with their supporters, Rangers looked very much like a bunch who are developing a taste for it.
Clement may have thought his weekend could hardly get any better after seeing Celtic discombobulate at home to Hearts on Saturday afternoon. But there was more good news for him before he even climbed on the team bus for the cross city trip from Auchenhowie to Mount Florida.
And it came in the shape of Todd Cantwell, who put his hand up for selection after missing Thursday’s night’s win in Seville for personal reasons. Had Cantwell not been available, Clement would have had little choice but to give Sam Lammers another starting slot as his side’s creator in chief.
And there are only so many times the same mistake can be made without eventually paying the price for it. That said, Cantwell will have arrived at the national stadium with redemption on his mind, having been mercilessly hooked by the boss at half time during the semi-final win over Hearts.
And, with all eyes on him, that was the kind of humiliating mishap the Englishman will have wanted to avoid repeating. Cantwell covered as much grass as his little legs would allow him to throughout a fairly frenetic first half.
His influence then grew stronger after the break. And with John Lundstram and Dujon Sterling doing the hard yards behind him, this trio would effectively run Aberdeen into submission.
It wasn’t pretty at times. As a matter of fact, the opening 45 minutes was something of a running skirmish even if ref Don Robertson didn’t seem to notice. The man in charge kept his cards in his top pocket until five minutes before the break when he cautioned both Lundstram and Ester Sokler, presumably for something they said in the heat of the moment.
But sticks and stones and all that. The rest of the time Robertson was only too happy to let the rough and tumble continue all around.
Lundstram was lucky to get away with one crunching early foul and Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie was running about the place like a red-shirted wrecking ball. Robertson may have wanted to let the game flow but, by allowing so much to go unpunished, he also helped this final to become a scruffy, fairly unedifying affair until it all ended up spilling over into the back of Jack Butland’s net late in the second half as tempers frayed all around.
The best of the first-half chances came and went in front of Aberdeen’s goal where Kelle Roos was required to pull off a smart save to keep out Abdallah Sima’s shot on the turn from the edge of the box. Little Ross McCausland, though, missed the most glaring of them, sending two almost identical headers high and wide of the keeper’s back post.
When McCausland did hit the target, five minutes before half-time, he left Roos without a hope only for the youngster’s big moment to be chopped off for Sima’s foul on Nicky Devlin a split-second earlier. All the while, big Phil was prowling around his technical area – his head protected from the swirling rain by a skip hat – looking more and more miffed with what his players were providing.
Or, more precisely, what they were not. Having watched as they dominated so much of the play, the Belgian wanted them to do something to affect the huge scoreboards at each end of the ground.
They nearly paid for it at the beginning of the second half when Devlin’s low cross from the right zipped over the six-yard box and no one was there to put in the simplest of finishing touches. However, this was Aberdeen’s only meaningful phase of the game.
And there never appeared to be a chance for them to recover when Tavernier scored with fifteen minutes remaining, improvising masterfully to hammer a hitch-kick home.
Now that Clement is cranking up the heat for Christmas, the major question is whether Celtic will show to be any more robust as we enter the festive season.
