No-nonsense Philippe Clement responds to a “strange” Rangers question from a journalist.

Rangers manager Philippe Clement had reacted angrily to a “strange question” from a journalist about his team’s confidence at Ibrox.

The Belgian manager was fielding questions about the mood of his Ibrox squad during a press conference ahead of the match against St Johnstone in Glasgow.

Rangers are coming off a huge week in which they secured Europa League qualification with a historic victory over Real Betis in Spain.

Three days later, Rangers won the League Cup at the expense of Aberdeen, with Celtic’s withdrawal from the Scottish Premiership opening up the title race.

Philippe Clement responds to journalists
Philippe Clement was asked if last week’s results had given his squad confidence as Rangers prepare to play one of their games in hand against St Johnstone at Ibrox.

In response to the “strange question,” the ex-Club Brugge manager believes that confidence in his team is already high, owing to the club’s recent successes.

“It’s a strange question because I had this question already a few times the last couple of days,” Clement said.

“If this team doesn’t have belief, they wouldn’t have done those things last week, so the belief is there. There is no doubt about that.

“But it’s about giving confirmation every time and keeping that belief and keeping our standards and raising our standards and being ambitious and being hungry. It’s about that.

“But without belief you cannot win in Betis and you cannot win this Cup Final so belief was there we didn’t need the Cup Final for that.”

Rangers manager prepares for a St Johnstone push

Philippe Clement was unapologetic in his response to journalists following the club’s League Cup victory over Aberdeen.

While the new-look Rangers squad has been put under a lot of pressure this season, the players have found an extra level under the Belgian that they had lost under Michael Beale.

There is clearly a lot of faith in the Ibrox team, and Clement has challenged his players to “step back in our marathon” as Scottish Premiership duties resume.

Rangers are now tasked with building on their League Cup triumph, and with Celtic capitulating, there is a sense that a seismic shift in Scottish football is on the horizon.

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