Football manager admits to being ‘stupid’ after taunts fail in Europa League showdown

Henrik Rydstrom, the manager of Swedish football club Malmo, publicly admitted to making a mistake after his comments aimed at Rangers backfired in the Europa League.

Scottish side Rangers recorded an impressive victory at Malmo on Thursday night in what was the Glasgow-based club’s first-ever win against Swedish opposition.

Nedim Bajrami fired Rangers ahead with just one minute on the clock before Northern Ireland international Ross McCausland added a second to make it 2-0.

The victory was made sweeter for Rangers after Malmo taunted them on social media ahead of the match.

Malmo’s official account posted an online video with a caption making reference to Rangers’ financial woes – which saw them drop to the Third Division in 2012.

But it was Rangers who got the last laugh and speaking in his post-match press conference after his side lost, Malmo boss Rydstrom said: ‘S*** happens.

‘It is symptomatic that we are playing backwards. This is a problem we’ve had for a damn long time.

‘I have tried to get my players to understand that we do not play the ball backwards to our goalkeeper.

‘Our goalkeepers are not our playmakers. Instead of taking the responsibility to play forward, we had lateral passes and passes towards home that I don’t really understand.’

Pressed on his pre-match comments, Rydstrom was clearly irked, as he added: ‘You can ask ‘are you as a head coach stupid?’ Yes. I’m obviously stupid.’

Rangers boss Philippe Clement, meanwhile, was delighted with his side’s Europa League performance.

‘It was the perfect start to the campaign,’ Clement said. ‘Malmo are a really difficult opponent to play against.

‘They play with a lot of running actions but in a chaotic style – it’s difficult to defend against. My players did a massive job sticking to the plan, all game, all 90 minutes.’