The League Cup Final That Cast a Pall Over Ibrox

The chill of a Scottish winter, both literal and metaphorical, settled over Philippe Clement long after the final whistle of the League Cup final in mid-December 2024. Four months have passed since that pulsating, agonizing encounter at Hampden Park, a match that, in the reflective solitude afforded by distance from Glasgow's famously febrile football environment, the Belgian now pinpoints as the beginning of the end of his turbulent 16-month reign as Rangers manager.
The air in Glasgow, already thick with expectation and simmering discontent, had reached a fever pitch in the weeks preceding the final. Rangers, nine points adrift of fierce rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, were under immense pressure. Only a series of commendable results in the Europa League – including a creditable 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur just three days before the domestic showpiece – were keeping the baying critics at bay. The League Cup, the season's first piece of silverware, represented a chance to inject much-needed impetus into their campaign, to bridge the psychological gap to their dominant neighbors.
Celtic, of course, entered the final as heavy favorites. Their domestic supremacy in recent seasons had become a familiar narrative, and many expected them to comfortably add another League Cup to their burgeoning trophy cabinet. However, on that decisive day at Hampden, Rangers rose to the occasion. They went toe-to-toe with their arch-rivals in a thrilling 3-3 draw that ebbed and flowed with drama. It was a contest that, for much of its duration, promised to be a turning point for Clement's side, a defiant statement of intent.
Then came the moment that, in Clement's estimation, irrevocably altered the trajectory of his time at Ibrox. In extra time, with the scoreline poised precariously, Rangers were denied a clear penalty. The decision, or rather the lack thereof, would haunt him. Despite television replays and a VAR review unequivocally showing a foul inside the area, the on-field decision stood. The free-kick, taken outside the box, came to nothing, and Celtic ultimately triumphed 5-4 in the ensuing penalty shootout.
"I had a feeling, a bad feeling, after the League Cup final," Clement recently confided to BBC Sport Scotland. "I think it was a vital game. If we had won, there would have been more patience with the fans also and the board could have stayed much calmer." His words highlight the immense pressure cooker that is managing Rangers, where a single result, particularly against Celtic and with silverware on the line, can swing the mood of an entire fan base and influence the decisions of the club's hierarchy.
The controversial non-penalty call became a talking point across Scottish football and beyond. The Scottish FA's head of referees, Willie Collum, even admitted after the fact that Rangers should have been awarded the spot-kick, describing the roles of VAR Alan Muir and his assistant Frank Connor as "really poor" and "unacceptable." Clement, while appreciating the "transparency, openness, and honesty" of Collum's admission, was clear on its ultimate impact: "That doesn't help the result at the end of the day, because it was a game-deciding moment." He lamented that a game of such quality and intensity, with everything a football fan desires, became overshadowed by a single, decisive error.
For Clement, the missed opportunity for victory and the manner of the defeat left a lingering mark. "Of course, this moment and what happened will stay with us for the rest of our lives in the back of our heads," he acknowledged, even as he urged his team to "put that to bed" and focus on future challenges. The psychological blow was undeniable, a subtle erosion of confidence and momentum that, in hindsight, proved difficult to overcome.
The winter that followed the League Cup final was indeed a period of stark contrasts for Rangers under Clement. There were glimpses of promise, including a long-awaited Old Firm victory and continued progress in the Europa League, which saw them reach the last 16. However, inconsistencies plagued their domestic form. The gap to Celtic remained stubbornly wide, and crucial points were dropped in matches they were expected to win. The financial disparities between the two Glasgow giants, a point Clement surprisingly brought up publicly before the final, also began to loom larger as discussions around recruitment and cutting costs intensified behind the scenes.
Ultimately, the cumulative effect of these challenges, exacerbated by the psychological scar of the League Cup final, proved too much. Clement was eventually relieved of his duties in February, following an abject defeat by St Mirren at Ibrox. His departure, in the week that Russell Martin was appointed his full-time successor, marks the end of a chapter in Rangers' recent history, a chapter indelibly marked by the "bad feeling" that began on that fateful December day at Hampden.
Clement's reflections offer a rare glimpse into the brutal realities of top-flight football management, particularly in the unforgiving glare of the Scottish Premiership Old Firm rivalry. It underscores how fine the margins are, how a single decision, a single moment, can derail ambitions and ultimately cost a manager his job. The League Cup final, where Rangers battled valiantly but fell short in contentious circumstances, will forever be etched in Philippe Clement's memory not just as a lost opportunity for silverware, but as the moment when the tide truly began to turn against him at Ibrox.
Source@BBC