Philippe Clement has spoken to the media after the draw with Motherwell at Fir Park. Here is every word he had to say.
Philippe, a lot to talk about from that game, a very busy game. What did you take away from it?
That we make our own downfall two games in a row with conceding goals that you cannot concede in that way. Clearly not aggressive enough in those duels and that's a weird thing. It's different players, individual mistakes. In that way, we've been doing well the last couple of weeks against really good opponents. Not showing that in these two games and then you chase the game in that way. What we did, you come back to the 2-2 but we didn't manage to score the third goal in that way. We make it so difficult for ourselves two games in a row by giving away silly, unnecessary goals. Not that you're not as a team in good positions, that there's no structure, but just about individual mistakes.
How concerning is that? I'm sure you would have made a big deal about that after St Mirren?
Of course, that's very frustrating. It's very frustrating because we make it so difficult for ourselves in that way. That's the weird thing. If the quality to do it is not there, you have a big problem. They showed it the last couple of months that there was a good defensive side. They played against Tottenham really well in that way, against Celtic also, in the games before also. The weeks before and now in two games in a row, we give amazing goals away. Also, not that we get five, six, seven chances against, but if they come in the box now today against St Mirren, it's directly a goal in this first half. Then you need to chase things. In that way, the team did. In the second half, it was not a team that gave up or one player who gave up. Everybody has been fighting for that. That's the minimum, of course. But we throw away five points in two games by defending really bad.
Do you regret making as many changes to the starting line-up today?
It's really simple, guys. It's really simple. Ianis was sick. Ianis was normally starting today. Leon Balogun is injured. Jefte played almost the same amount of games that he played last season until now. Ridvan played, for me, a good game in that position. Vaclav played already double the amount of minutes that he played last season. He was saying also that he was dead tired yesterday. And the same with Hamza, who played almost the same amount of minutes as last season already in a short period. So, yes, I see also the difference when Vaclav and Hamza come in, in the second half, and they showed good quality. But I would be really a fool if I had started with them and after 60 minutes they both would have been injured for one or two months. Then I would be a fool. So, in that way, yes, I listen to my staff. I also listen to the players themselves in that way. And I've been pushing several players in these situations the last couple of weeks. But there is a limit on pushing them before you come to the injury thing. So, John Souttar, you can say we've been pushing him until one moment and then he gets an injury also. So, it's making these decisions together, as a staff together and also with the players. And we need, with this amount of game, more than 12, 13, 14 players. Otherwise, you cannot reach your goals. So, that's what you expect from the other players.
When players tell you they're too tired, do you try and talk them into playing or do you just accept it?
No, we did that the last couple of weeks. And they don't come to say that they're too tired, but you see people, how they are. We test them also in different ways with the staff. So, you need a rotation. It's not possible. There's not one team in the world playing with their attacking players every time 90 minutes, every three days, for three, four months in a row. There's not one team in the world doing that. So, we cannot do that also. Otherwise, we take the wrong decisions. Would I have loved to have started today with Vaclav and Hamza? Of course, yes. But I need to be smart in that way also not to lose them for the next couple of months.
Given the gulf at the top of the table in terms of points, do you have any concerns about the board losing faith in your management? Do you have any concerns about your own position?
No, I'm not concerned about that because I'm only busy with the team. And we knew before the season what project and what challenging project it would be. On that side, it's difficult to speak about that because you will not understand and people outside maybe will not understand. But there has been an evolution made. The last two games not, for sure not. And we have hurt ourselves in that way. But there were good games the last couple of weeks where the team showed the potential. In that way, there are already teams interested in some players for the future, which we didn't have the last two years. So, we're taking steps, but you cannot speak about that after losing points against St Mirren and against Motherwell, I know. But we hurt ourselves, we, so that the players, staff, me, all together, the responsibility that we get these goals against. And the difficulty in that is, it's avoidable individual mistakes in those moments and two times that the opponent kills it off directly. Not with missing a chance, but they directly score. So, we need to work hard now in a few days to be much more resilient and much more determined in these defensive actions. That's going to be one part of the game, but of course also with the ball. To show what they've shown in this cup final and to look towards that.”
Has the board indicated they'll support you in this project in this evolution?
Yes, they made a really clear statement about that already in the beginning of the season and now also with the people involved. Do you think nothing has changed now? Do you think with another manager we would not have made mistakes today defensively? Was it a problem that the structure of the team was not good? So, those are things that a board needs to decide.
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