Philippe Clement in Rangers Michael Beale dig as cause of injury problems named

Philippe Clement claims Rangers players were not physically ready for last season in his latest dig at Michael Beale.

The Belgian was left exasperated at several points last season as one Gers player after another fell by the wayside with inury, seriously hampering him in his attempts to overhaul Celtic at the top of the Premiership. He bemoaned the issue more than once and hinted that he new how to rid the club of the problem.

Clement will now have the chance to do his own pre-season with the Ibrox side’s squad for the first time after taking over a few months into last season after Beale was sacked. He has now strongly suggested the players were not worked hard enough last year and as a result were not prepared for the rigours of playing domestic and European football. He is now ready to put them through an intense schedule to make sure they are better placed.

The Gers boss has previously taken aim at his predecessor over similar issues and also his choices in player registration for European competition.

He told Rangers TV: “Firstly, we are looking to build the physical condition. The team missed that a lot last season. They were not prepared to play every three days to a high intensity. Because of that we had a lot of injuries, so that is a big concern now, to train really hard and prepare really well.

“Not only ball exercises and running but a lot of exercises to strengthen their bodies. We are going to work on that. We can say to all the fans that the players are working really hard in the next couple of weeks to be stronger again next season.

“It is going to be very hard training for the players and tough games, but they need to be challenged when they are tired also, to have that mentality and go through that because we will have moments like that in the season.

“That is one side we one to become stronger, the other is we will have individual talks with all the players every evening, together with my staff. It creates a bond and I have to say I was very happy in that way about last season. It was a good dressing room where everybody stuck together until the end.

“We need to rebuild in that way also, and get new leadership into the dressing room next to the guys who already showed leadership here. Also, to see people evolve in that way who were here last season. And for the new guys it is good to be 24 hours together in the week and really get adapted to the team.”