Inside ex-Celtic boss Strachan’s relationship with Rangers’ Philippe Clement – and why he hasn’t reached out to old pal
GORDON STRACHAN once babysat Philippe Clement's kids when he had him as a player at Coventry City.
But don't expect the former Hoops boss and his ex player to be getting close again now Clement is in Glasgow as manager of Rangers.
Clement spoke warmly of Strachan - but the ex-national team boss admits he hasn't been in contact with him for a long time and the presence of his son Gavin in the current Celtic coaching set-up means they're unlikely to be anytime soon.
Other than meeting up for a "cup of tea or something like that" the pair will continue to exist in separate worlds.
Strachan told Lord Ping: "I haven’t been in contact with Philippe for a long time, with my history at Celtic, I can’t.
"I was close to him when he played under me at Coventry – I even babysat his kids one evening.
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"His determination as a player to overcome adversity was phenomenal.
"He had a nasty injury when he was playing for me at Coventry.
"If you look at his managerial career, his record has been terrific wherever he has been.
"You always follow your old players, and it’s great, but when he arrived on my doorstep at Rangers, I was thinking to myself, ‘nice to see you, Philippe (laughs).
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"'We’ve got a problem here because I managed Celtic, and my son is on the coaching staff’.
"I hope he can enjoy the scenery and the sights of Scotland.
"Maybe one day we could meet up and have a cup of tea or something like that, but that would have to be as far as it ever goes."
Not that Strachan hasn't been impressed by the Belgian’s impact at Rangers - with the ex-Scotland boss even comparing his aura in interviews with that of Jurgen Klopp and Ange Postecoglou,
Strachan said: “He’s been an impressive figure in management.
"People are drawn to him in a similar way people are drawn to people like Klopp and Ange.
"He has a presence, and that helps players buy into your ideas.
“He says all the rights things. In interviews it doesn’t look like he wants to be bullied and he stands up for himself when he needs to do, which is good.
"I think players like to see their managers giving as good as they got in the media.
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"I like that about him too. He’ll tell you how his team played, you don’t tell him.”
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