Clement bites back with 'not a good moment' excuse as Rangers hope gets shunned
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As with most games this season, Rangers were unable to put in a 90-minute performance against St Johnstone even if the game was all but over in the first half.
Philippe Clement is safe as manager for now, however, even after a comfortable win he still faced awkward questions about the use of his squad in front of an Ibrox crowd that turned on the board, and each other.
At 3-0 up, it would have been the perfect time to rest Nicolas Raskin ahead of big games against Aberdeen and Man Utd with Bailey Rice the natural replacement for Rangers.
Philippe Clement explains Bailey Rice absence from Rangers squad
Despite talking Rice up in the pre-match press conference, there was no sign of the talented teen in the squad:
"Bailey is taking the good steps. You can say after the game it was a good moment to bring a young lad and to give him minutes today," said Clement when asked why there was no sign of the Scotland youth cap.
"That’s hindsight afterwards. Maybe it was not a good moment before the game to do that and you need to make choices in that way, but Bailey is making the right step.
"He’s really happy with the plans we have with him. He’s making the next step now to come into the dressing room and he will probably take minutes the next couple of months, yes, but it’s about performing on the pitch in the training sessions to get that.
"It’s not just a guarantee that you go to the first team and then you get minutes. It’s what he’s doing for the moment.
"If he continues what he’s been doing now, then these minutes will come the next couple of months."
Is Clement right to hold Rice back?
Clement, as he has done with Hamza Igamane, is right to protect Rice.
At 18-years old, the defensive midfielder has plenty of time on his side and throwing him into the current situation, with a team so under pressure, isn't the right environment for a youth player to thrive.
The biggest problem, as the external review detailed by Patrick Stewart should find, is that players like Rice aren't playing anywhere near enough competitive games at academy level.
This only makes the manager's job harder when trying to assess how ready youngsters are to make the step up.
Rice might well be the future of Rangers midfield, but patience is needed.
