Philippe Clement hopes team mentality will bring ‘amazing’ things to Rangers

Philippe Clement believes sacrificing the personal for the collective can help Rangers to an “amazing” season.

The Belgian boss is still basking in the glory of the 1-0 Viaplay Cup final win over Aberdeen at Hampden Park on Sunday, his first trophy since taking over from Michael Beale in October.

Coincidentally, Beale’s departure came after a 3-1 home defeat to the Dons in the cinch Premiership which provided a body blow to the Gers’ title hopes.

However, Clement has also rekindled those aspirations amid his 14-game unbeaten run since arriving in Glasgow, while guiding the Light Blues into the last-16 of the Europa League with a stunning 3-2 win over Real Betis in Spain last week.

Ahead of the visit of St Johnstone to Ibrox on Wednesday night, where a win will take Rangers to within two points of leaders Celtic having played a game fewer, former Genk, Club Brugge and Belgium defender Clement said: “I think it’s logical, when I came into the club the confidence was not there but I saw what I saw in the games and the first days in training.

“Every experience makes you stronger. The strongest teams I played in were teams that were together for two or three years and those were teams that had a lot of experience together.

“Good but also bad because you not only become stronger out of good experiences but also out of bad experiences if you take the right conclusions together.

“Every experience with this group will make it stronger and winning in Seville, winning a cup and winning the first silverware, proving a lot of things that had been said not so long ago about these players, that it was wrong.

“They need to continue doing that and keeping this hunger. If they keep the hunger, if they also keep the collectivity and this solidarity that it’s not important to start or not to start, and it’s not about them but about the team then we’re going to make an amazing season. I’m confident about that.

“The moment players start to think about themselves and to take themselves out of the collective, it will be more difficult.

“Then we will speak with them. It’s going to happen, I’m not naive and I know if there is success there are also people around the players who are influential or who try to become more influential.

“We have to make it clear it’s about the collective and if the collective is good then the individual is also good because it works like that in a team sport.”