Former Rangers star makes Philippe Clement Celtic claim

Former Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield has given a glowing review of the impact of manager Philippe Clement and claims the decision to bring him in has opened up the title race.

Clement arrived at Ibrox in October as the replacement to former boss Michael Beale who was sacked after a poor start to the season. The ex-Monaco and Club Brugge coach inherited a team that were trailing by seven points in the Scottish Premiership after a run of three defeats from their opening seven matches.

The Belgian has quickly restored the team’s fortunes and is unbeaten in his opening eight league matches with seven victories and one draw. 

This form, coupled with Celtic’s defeat to Kilmarnock, leaves the Gers five points off top spot with a game in hand on their Glasgow rivals.

Arfield, who left the club for Charlotte FC in the summer, has enjoyed watching his team from afar and believes they are now heading in the right direction with Clement at the helm.

The 35-year-old told STV news: “The stint with Mick didn’t go as planned. The new manager has come in and seemed to get that bounce.

“So it seems as though they are going for it now and back to where they should be. It’s huge. If you looked at this two months ago you wouldn’t have said that this would happen but it’s Scottish football and this is what it throws to you.

“If you read everything that everybody is saying then the league was already done but it’s proved to be very, very different to that. It’s all about winning the games and setting up a massive game on the 30th at Parkhead.”

Rangers end the year with a trip to face Celtic in a game which makes Clement’s first Old Firm Derby in the dugout. However, the Gers also have the pressing matter of a cup final against Aberdeen on Sunday, in a game which gives the Belgian the perfect opportunity to lift his first piece of silverware with the club.

Arfield, who was speaking to promote Viaplay’s coverage of the game, believes victory could be a springboard to more domestic success.

“If they win the cup on Sunday, that could give them a real boost,” he said. “Then they go to Celtic Park on the 30th of this month and, anything could happen, you could potentially go top of the league.

“That would be a huge boost and it’s well within their capabilities to do so. Everybody knows how good Celtic are but if they can get it down to two points, you can certainly get momentum with it.

“It’s encouraging that they’re picking up results, especially with the number of injuries they’ve got to key players. Obviously they had a mishap (1-1 draw) up at Aberdeen but I think they should be encouraged by the form they’ve got since the new manager came in.

“It seems like they’re going for it now and getting back to where they should be. And then when they get more players coming back from injury, that could certainly propel them into really trying to win that title.”

Arfield’s former Old Firm opponent Scott Brown thinks Celtic will be able to recover from the weekend’s upset, with the fact that games are coming thick and fast a positive for the Premiership champions.

“It’s only one game and everybody wants to turn it on Celtic now,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of strong characters in that dressing room. They know what they need to do.

“They’re still top of the league and still in a healthy position. It’s the first league defeat of the season.

“It’s about not worrying about outside and what’s being said but to make sure everything that’s said in-house stays in-house.

“They work extremely hard and they will bounce back. They know they are top quality players and they know they have the strength in depth, and the manager, to go and do it.”