Philippe Clement condemns continued use of pyro after Rangers one of three clubs charged by SFA

Philippe Clement has condemned the continued use of pyrotechnics in stadiums and told Rangers supporters “it doesn’t help the team”.

The manager has repeatedly spoken out against the use of smoke bombs and has once again urged fans to “use your voice to sing and support the players” as he praised the atmosphere created in Scottish football.

Rangers, Motherwell, and Celtic have been charged over the behaviour of their fans at the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals last month.

Both semi-finals at Hampden delayed their kick-off after fans lit flares and other pyrotechnics, prompting the league to take action against the clubs.

The SPFL has described the supporters’ behaviour as illegal, dangerous and irresponsible, and the clubs involved now face punishment for breaking league rules.

Speaking to the media on Friday as his side prepare to take on Ross County in the Highlands, he said: “I have spoken about this several times, so everyone knows my opinions on that.

“Firstly, it’s not safe, and secondly, it costs the club money that could be used better so we can improve the squad and the fans can be more happy with the squad.

“So, the clear message again is that it doesn’t help us in any sense towards the team.

“I understand that people want to create a good atmosphere, but the best thing they can use is their voice to sing and support the players because in that way, I have been really happy with the atmosphere in Scottish football, and that is much more important than pyros.”

Clement also confirmed that his attacking options have been boosted further by the return of wingers Oscar Cortes and Rabbi Matondo from injury, but insists the trip to Dingwall might come too early for the pair.

He said: “Rabbi and Oscar are back in full training, we will need to wait and see if they are ready to play after such a long time out, but it is very positive news that they can do everything again.”

At the Rangers AGM on Thursday, it was revealed that the club received less than £1m for five players sold in the summer.

When asked about that on Friday, Clement said: “That’s a hard one for me to say, because it is not my job to do that firstly, secondly it might have something to do with the wages that players were earning here.

“Every player wants to always earn more, I was the same, and never want to reduce their wages, so maybe that was the case for some of the players, but every individual transfer will have its own story.

“Some were older and maybe earning a lot of money that other teams did not want to pay, and because of that they were maybe not big in the market that everyone wanted to sign them, so that means you have less leverage in those negotiations.”