Rangers boss Philippe Clement says 'all of Europe talking about non-penalty call in cup final'

Philippe Clement says “all of Europe” has been discussing the decision not to award Rangers a penalty in their League Cup final defeat to Celtic.

The Ibrox boss insists the moment was a “bad advertisement” for the Scottish game and urged head of referees Willie Collum and the SFA to do all they can to stop a repeat incident in the future.

Clement was proud of his team’s performance, and believes they should have won the game, but admits Vaclav Cerny being denied a spot-kick in extra-time “hurt a lot” will stay with him for the rest of his life.

But he is now aiming to pick his team back up and turn their focus to the Premiership game against Dundee on Saturday as they look to claw some points back at the top of the table.

Speaking to the media on Friday with the Hampden loss to Celtic still the main talking point, he said: “My team played really well, they were strong just a short time after the Tottenham game when they also played really well, so we also showed massive physicality as well in that way.

“We hit really high numbers in both games, so those things need to continue. Of course in the days after it hurt a lot for everybody at the club, staff, players, fans, board and everybody involved, because of the situation with how everything happened.

“It’s hard because we felt after the game that the rules of the game have not been followed you know there is a grey area sometimes in decision-making, but this time, there was no grey area, and that is very clear for everybody.

“There is nobody in the world who has another view on that. It has been good that we had transparency from Willie Collum, openness, and honesty about what happened, and he was really clear.

“That doesn’t help the result at the end of the day, because it was a game-deciding moment, but we appreciate the honesty.”

Clement, now six games without a win against Celtic and sitting eleven points behind their rivals going into the new year, revealed he spoke personally to Collum following the final.

He said: “Everybody at the club hopes that Willie is not alone in the fight to make the standards better and that everyone at the top of the SFA also has the same ambition to make things better.

“These things cannot happen, not only for Rangers or any team losing a game like that, but also for Scottish football because it is a really bad advertisement and all of Europe has been talking about what happened in the final.

“That’s a pity because it was two good teams playing a good game of football with everything that every fan wants in a game with quality and intensity.

“But there has been more talk about that one decisive moment, and that is a pity for Scottish football.

“For us, it is now important to put that to bed and to stop thinking about it, because tomorrow we have a very important game against Dundee.

“We now need to focus on the next game and look to get the three points from that.

“We don’t need to take any motivation out of negativity; we want to win games and win trophies. We were the team who created the most chances, and we were the team who should have had a penalty, and that’s a lot in the cup final, so normally you win at the end most of the time, but you never have guarantees in football.

“So, in that way, we couldn’t ask any more of the players, although I will ask more in the next couple of months because we need to keep raising the bar.

“We need to now focus on Dundee and not look back anymore.

“Of course, this moment and what happened will stay with us for the rest of our lives in the back of our heads but we need to focus on what is ahead.

“It is my job to get the team ready for the game tomorrow. There are other people with different responsibilities, and they are trying to do their best for the club.

“I spoke personally with (Willie Collum). We have already had two really good meetings with him this season, and he told us we could always call him if we had any questions, so this was the moment to call.

“He gave me the same explanation that he gave afterwards online, he explained what happened and that he was not satisfied with that and that it was unacceptable.”