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ANGE Postecoglou is bracing himself for a hostile reception from the Rangers support when he returns to Ibrox for the first time since his departure from Celtic.
The Tottenham Hotspur manager left Parkhead in May last year after two trophy-laden seasons in Glasgow.
Fighting for his job after one win in seven games, the Australian returns to the city in the midst of a crippling injury crisis.
Key defenders Ben Davies, Micky van der Ven and Christian Romero are all absent tonight, with teenager Archie Gray set to come in. Already bracing himself for an ‘intense’ response from the Rangers support after he won five trophies out of six in Scottish football, Postecoglou has vowed to embrace the experience.
‘I think you know what kind of reception I’ll get,’ said the 59-year-old. ‘I loved it.
‘It was different experiences, mixed. I think the first one we were here, we lost and then the next one, when we only had 500-600 in the building, we won and that was pretty special.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou speaks to the media ahead of his side’s match at Ibrox
Postecoglou makes himself at home as Spurs train at Ibrox on Wednesday night
Spurs players train at Ibrox on Wednesday night ahead of their Europa League encounter
‘But I’ve enjoyed all the games against Rangers, all the derbies, the big games here in Scotland obviously and usually very significant games. They’re either title deciders or cup knockouts. So they’re always big games and I enjoyed them all. I enjoyed the atmosphere. The game here was the one that was most of interest to me because of my history up here. I’m looking forward to it.
‘It should be a good game and also, like I said, in the context of where we are in Europe, an important game for both clubs.’
Despite the indifferent domestic form of Philippe Clement’s side, the Spurs boss knows Rangers are a different proposition in the Europa League.
‘When I was up here, particularly in my first year, Rangers made the Europa League final, so I’ve got a pretty clear idea of how challenging it is to play them here in front of that crowd and the atmosphere,’ he added. ‘Obviously, the domestic season hasn’t gone as well — in the league anyway — as they would have liked.
‘But you can tell there’s still the elements there of quality.
‘They’re in the cup final at the weekend and they’ve done really well in Europe. For us, it’s a one-off game and, in one-off games, you’re always looking at how teams perform when they’re at their best.’
Clement, meanwhile, insists his players can create memories to last a lifetime by beating Spurs. The Rangers boss is adamant that his team won’t suffer from an inferiority complex — insisting that the financial gulf between both clubs can be bridged in a one-off match.
Rangers boss Philippe Clement insists his team can spring a surprise against Spurs
Clement watches his players train ahead of their Europa League tie with Spurs
Going up against one of the big guns from the English Premier League, Clement will draw inspiration from some of his exploits with Club Brugge.
As a player, he played in a 1-0 win at the San Siro in 2003 as they defeated a star-studded AC Milan side who were European champions.
As a coach, he then guided an unheralded Brugge team to draws against two European heavyweights in Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
‘Everything can be bridged in one night,’ he said. ‘I am getting old but I had it before as a player and as a manager.
‘I had the luck and also the hard work on several of those nights when the gap was amazingly big. And those are also the best nights.
‘If you perform and you get the results, those are also the nights that you remember all of your life. Those are also the moments that, as a player, you remember with your team-mates really well.
‘So, in that way, I hope the players can give themselves and as a team a special night in this match.
‘With my own memories, I don’t want to look too old, because you’re going to look up how long it was ago. But, for example, with Brugge winning in the Champions League in AC Milan 1-0.
‘That was the team that won the Champions League the year before with Dida, Cafu, Costacurta, Maldini, Seedorf, Shevchenko, Inzaghi, and a few really good guys on the bench also. If we meet each other, and it doesn’t happen so much, people still talk about that evening together.
‘I had a few of those. Rangers has also several of those in the history. So it’s a really nice stage for my players.
‘If you speak about the past, going with Brugge to Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain and getting results there was also a huge (financial) difference. So, no, I want this mentality that they fight from the first second until the last second to get the result and to believe in that also. I believe also that this team has the quality to do that.’
Insisting that he won’t read too much into Spurs’ recent form, Clement said: ‘I think a few weeks ago I saw them play against Man City. They were not in such a bad place (Spurs won 4-0). I think it’s still a really good team.’
