Philippe Clement has urged Rangers to start managing games better following their narrow victory over Heart of Midlothian on Sunday.
There was a nervous feeling around Ibrox despite Cyriel Dessers' sixth minute goal ensuring Rangers got back to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership, with the gap between the Light Blues and leaders Celtic still nine points.
Rangers and Hearts had an even share of possession, despite Clement's men having 20 shots at goal compared to just five for the visitors, who failed to get any on target.
Despite that, the Rangers manager could sense the tension inside the stadium as the game remained very much on a knife-edge.
"I'm very satisfied with the result," Clement told BBC Sportsound. "It was a deserved three points. Our first half was good in many moments, we score a very good goal, we had really good combination play, and finding the right spaces to do what we wanted to do against Hearts.
Read more:
- Rangers unveil huge poppy tifo as Ibrox falls silent
- Thompson reignites bitter Rangers feud as he files for bankruptcy
"But we missed chances to score the second goal and you know until you score the second goal and make that difference, the other team stays in the game.
"So, I want us to kill the belief of the opponent faster. That was not the case today, and then you come out of half-time and you get directly a chance against us. Their only shot on target...well it wasn't even on target it was against the post.
"Then after that, we didn't show the same quality as in the first half on the ball. We became a little bit too sloppy in moments, making wrong decisions, and like that you don't finish off the game and Hearts stay in the game until the last second.
"We also hit the crossbar ourselves, we had a few chances, chances that the goalkeeper saves. So, it stays nervous in the stands until the last second.
"In the end, the team defended that really well because there were no shots on target that Jack [Butland] had to save."
Asked to elaborate on his frustrations, Clement continued: "We made too many wrong choices with the ball and we became too sloppy. We didn't do the same things that we did in the first half.
"You expect even better in the second half. But it's the end of a very busy period with a lot of travelling. We came back from a big trip [Olympiacos away], they are all human beings, their not robots.
"But we need to manage the game better. In the end of the game when we have a free-kick in their half, it cannot end up where we play it back to Jack and it's a long ball, the ball goes out and in the last minute throw-in.
"We need to manage the game better, but that's with young players who are still to learn these experiences, to learn lessons out of that and to become better. That's something that we need to show to make them better."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel