Philippe Clement grows tired of reading Rangers riot act and reveals what made him so angry against Dundee

The Ibrox side eventually blew Dundee away 5-2 to delay what still seems the inevitable outcome where Celtic become champions. Things looked very bleak for the hosts at half-time as they trailed Dundee 2-1. Even that was an improvement on a few moments earlier. Ross McCausland’s strike on the stroke of half-time gave Rangers a foothold in the game after goals from Jordan McGhee and Antonio Portales saw the visitors – who hadn’t won at Ibrox for 23 years – take a 2-0 lead.

It was the second time in four days that the Ibrox side had trailed 2-0. They were unable to rectify matters on Saturday against Celtic and lost a must-win game 2-0 to leave Celtic on the brink of title glory. The Parkhead side now need just a point against Kilmarnock on Wednesday. Clement stressed that he is tired of reading the riot act to his under-performing players. "I cannot make myself angry every half time or before every game," he said "That’s impossible."

The Belgian did not seem impressed with Todd Cantwell’s first-half performance but then saw a player he left on the bench against Celtic help turn the game. The midfielder set up Cyriel Dessers for the equaliser and then scored his side’s third himself with a speculative effort from near the touchline. Asked if he was happy with Cantwell’s display, Clement replied that he was “happy with his second half, yes”. He said: “That is the Todd I want to see every time. Then he makes the difference, then he makes starts, then he is important for this club. It needs to be this fire, desire every time, with and without the ball not only one thing.”

Clement added that the onus was on all the players to show the required desire from the start. “With the ball we started with good intentions from the start,” he said. “In the first half there was a lot of movement with the ball with good combination play but not enough efficiency in the final third. There were a lot of positive things but not without the ball in the first half. At the end of the first half, we came out behind although we were better on the ball.

“That’s of no use if you aren’t good enough without the ball. So I was really angry about that at half-time because football – and they know – is about both sides. In the second half, you saw what they can do if they are focused on both things. But I cannot make myself angry every half time or before every game. That’s impossible. It needs to come out of the team. They need to understand that and take confidence.

“This is the perfect example today. Booed off the pitch at half-time. And a lot of applause after the game because people saw how the team were playing, how they scored and how aggressive they were in the duels and how they didn’t concede in the second half. This is the perfect example. I am going to put a lot of attention to that again to get it out of these last two games. But it needs to come out of the players.”