The Jose Mourinho, Philippe Clement moment many Norwich City fans may not know happened | OneFootball

Before Philippe Clement was Norwich manager he had a bust up with Jose Mourinho after his exit from Rangers

Norwich City fans are optimistic about what the future holds under Philippe Clement.

The Belgian oversaw a ninth-place finish last season, with the Canaries climbing the table to get within eight points of the play-off places.

Norwich were facing the threat of a relegation battle when the former Rangers boss took charge at Carrow Road last November.

But he managed to turn things around, and now supporters will be hoping to see the team fight for promotion to the Premier League in his first full season in-charge.

Clement has previously managed at European level with Rangers, but will now have to navigate a fiercely competitive Championship campaign.

With the new season now upon us, some fans may not remember when the 52-year-old got into a minor spat with the current Real Madrid boss, José Mourinho.

Jose Mourinho and Philippe Clement incident

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During Clement’s time at Rangers, he guided the team through multiple European campaigns in the Europa League.

The 52-year-old led the Scottish giants to the round of 16 in 2024 before being sacked in February 2025.

And he was ultimately no longer in charge at Ibrox when one notable encounter saw him competing against Mourinho when he was still in charge at Fenerbahce.

Clement had criticised the Portuguese coach’s style of play, suggesting that he prefers a more attacking team compared to more defensively-minded tactics.

However, he still showed great respect to Mourinho, complimenting him on the success he’d achieved up to that point in his career.

“He won a lot of trophies in a certain style,” said Clement, via the Scottish Sun.

“I like even more managers with another style, but the respect is there.

“It’s about winning in the end.

“And winning the biggest trophies you can win in the world. It’s normal to respect someone who does it.

“He is somebody who is more in the defensive style.

“I prefer more the managers who go full in their attacking force.”

However, Mourinho was quick to dismiss these comments after Barry Ferguson was appointed as Clement’s replacement in the lead-up to their Europa League Last 16 clash.

The 63-year-old claimed that if the Norwich boss was focused more about getting wins instead of philosophy then he would’ve still been in charge at Ibrox.

When asked about Clement, he responded: “You think I’m going to answer a question about, what’s his name?

“Do you want to ask me another question?”

Mourinho later added: “I think it will be more difficult against [Ferguson] than the previous coach.

“The previous coach was more worried about philosophy than on the pitch.

“It’s on the pitch that you win matches, not with philosophy.

“For sure, Ferguson will be much more objective and it will be hard for us.

“But, we will make it hard for them.”

Philippe Clement’s Rangers record

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Clement took charge of Rangers in October 2023 after departing Monaco that summer, and he was tasked with bringing the club back to the top of Scottish football.

The Glasgow outfit’s last league title had come in 2021 under Steven Gerrard, and had fallen back behind their bitter rivals Celtic.

However, he was unable to steer Rangers back to the top of the table, with the team coming second in 2023/24, coming eight points off the title.

And the club were again behind Celtic in 2024/25 when Rangers ultimately decided to make another change in the dugout.

This ended Clement’s reign in charge after 86 matches in which he oversaw 55 victories at a rate of 64 percent.

The Belgian remained out of work until November 2025 when Norwich appointed him as a successor to Liam Manning.

He led the Canaries to a ninth-place finish in the Championship, leading them out of the relegation battle and into the mix for a play-off place.