James Tavernier has opened up on new measures to combat on-field disciplinary issues at Rangers, as quoted by BBC Sport.
Steven Gerrard’s side came in for criticism at various stages last season, due to the number of suspensions picked up by players.
However, he wasn’t alone. Others including Allan McGregor, Scott Arfield and Daniel Candeias found themselves in hot water at various points across the term.
James Tavernier: Rangers discipline must be improved
“A few of the boys got suspensions and we dropped points when we shouldn’t have”, said Tavernier, as quoted by BBC Sport. “If we address that this season then we should be in a good place.”
“We’ve got new fines in place for discipline. None of the boys want these fines because they are hefty. So hopefully that really sticks in the back of their heads and I hope nothing stupid happens this season.”
Verdict
It’s good to see that the club has used the summer to bring in harsher punishments for players. The softer approach clearly wasn’t working.
Tavernier himself had a near-perfect record last season. He picked up just a solitary booking – at home to Osijek in August – despite making a massive 57 appearances [Soccerbase].
The same couldn’t be said for most of his teammates, though, and there’s no doubt that points were dropped unnecessarily as a result.
Let’s hope the squad take a leaf out of the skipper’s book and stays on the straight and narrow this time around. There’s no doubt that if they can, it’ll help the club’s SPL title challenge.