Philippe Clement speaks out on Rangers fans’ Celtic Park shutout 

The Belgian manager has responded to Celtic’s decision.

Philippe Clement has expressed his disappointment that Rangers will not have any fans at the Old Firm derby next weekend.

The game at Celtic Park will be played with no away fans after the Hoops turned down their opponents’ request for a small allocation as the standoff between the two sides over away fans continues.

Celtic won a case brought before an SPFL board subcommittee, which determined that issuing zero tickets was a “unreasonable” stance to take. Light Blues officials responded with a stinging statement, claiming that an adequate number of briefs could not be provided due to a lack of supporting evidence from Celtic, who are eager to return to the traditional allocation of 7,000 visiting punters at both stadiums.

The Hoops responded last night, saying they stand by their decision because of the issue of safety on match day. It comes after Celts knocked back 700 tickets for the Ibrox clash in September, citing “safety issues.” The row has raged since Rangers reduced Celtic’s away allocation from the entire Broomloan Stand to 700 seats in 2018 – the same allocation given to all other Premiership clubs.

Many fans and pundits have weighed in on the issue, with many agreeing that having no visiting fans is a bad look, though Gordon Strachan claimed it was a “positive.”

Gers boss Clement has now broken his silence on the matter and expressed his regret.

“Wherever we play, it’s always a disappointment if there are no fans there,” he told BBC Sportsound. I don’t think it happens somewhere in Europe, that they do that.

“My job is to train and coach the players of Rangers. I’m not busy with other things, or political things. Those are things for the board to make those decisions. I’m focused on football.”

In other news, Rangers manager Philippe Clement is furious about the John Lundstram incident as the Ibrox club closes the gap on Celtic.