Philippe Clement has accused Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers of disrespecting Rangers with his “can have a bit of fun” comment ahead of Saturday’s Old Firm clash at Parkhead.
After Celtic’s convincing 3-0 win over Hearts at Parkhead on Saturday, Rodgers looked ahead to the visit of Rangers and said: “We can have a bit of fun.”
However, Clement was not impressed and responded to those comments following his side’s 4-1 home win over Kilmarnock which returned the Light Blues to within three points of their city rivals with three fixtures remaining.
“That is something that I would never say about an opponent,” said the Ibrox boss.
“But okay, we will see. It’s not really respectful towards my team. That is what I think. So I will never say things like that about an opponent.
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Philippe Clement responds to Brendan Rodgers’ ‘have some fun’ comments ahead of Saturday’s Old Firm clash live on Sky Sports
“I am looking forward to that (game) and to be honest as a manager I would love that it was tomorrow instead of next week – but that is maybe not so good for my players.
“We are really hungry for that game. Six months ago we were seven points behind and now we are three points behind and we can go equal. The team has already done a lot of steps and now it is about making the next step.”
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Highlights of the last Old Firm as Rangers and Celtic shared six goals in an epic match at Ibrox
In an interview with Sky Sports after the win over Kilmarnock, Clement was asked if Rangers would need to step it up again if they are to beat Celtic and Clement said: “I don’t know about improvement as it is a totally different game.
“But I hear yesterday that they are going to have fun, so we will have fun also.”
What did Rodgers say?
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Brendan Rodgers looks ahead to Saturday’s Old Firm clash live on Sky Sports following their 3-0 win over Hearts
Speaking after their 3-0 win over Hearts, Rodgers said: “The first six months were a challenge for everyone and everything. But now you start to see a bit more of what a Celtic team of mine should look like.
“And still with a lot of work to do to get it to that point. But it’s certainly heading in the right direction.
“Eighty per cent of it now is mental. Physically they are in a really good place. This stage it’s all about mentality. You can see mentally we are in a really good place.
“Take nothing for granted, keep our composure, we have a lot of work to do in the week, get our plan ready and then next Saturday we can have a bit of fun.”
Sutton: Clement feeling the pressure
Former Celtic player Chris Sutton said on Sky Sports: “Brendan’s got under his skin. When he [Clement] first came in, he was calm and composed – but he’s feeling the pressure.”
Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd added on Sky Sports: “Rodgers came out with it first, but you get the feeling he’s trying to win over the Celtic fans, appeasing them. A lot of them weren’t happy when he came back at first.
“He’s said some things right from the beginning. Let the fun begin!”
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