Rangers have made hard work of the 2023/24 campaign and yet have a winning league record against Celtic and are in the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Nobody represents this Rangers squad more than Cyriel Dessers in its bi-polar nature in that it is capable of the sublime, the ridiculous and the amateur all in the same 90 minutes.
There is no such thing as a meaningless Old Firm derby given that the players who formed the core of the Ibrox outfit’s XI will be at the club next season too and the confidence boost will be invaluable.
Parkhead is never an easy place to go and win with the respective records of the Rangers manager and captain perfectly proving the point.
James Tavernier was pivotal for his side’s goals, was culpable for one of Celtic’s in his standard battle with Daizen Maeda, in another eventful afternoon for the skipper that sees him put Barry Ferguson in the shade.
James Tavernier beats Barry Ferguson’s record for Rangers
Tavernier had to apologise on Sky Sports after the game for the post-match celebrations, a rarity in recent times.
After nearly 10 years and 500 games, Tavernier doesn’t have the sort of record against the current league leaders that is one to shout about, and yet, away from home, it is better than Ferguson’s.
For comparison, where it really counts, Ferguson won 16 trophies in the famous Light Blue shirt, Tavernier has just three major trophies – both have European finals to their name too.
In what is one of those statistics that don’t sound like it should be true, Tavernier now has three wins and three draws in 17 Old Firm derbies at Parkhead, Ferguson has the same record, but in a game more.
What games has Tavernier picked up points at Parkhead?
Tavernier’s first success at Parkhead was a 1-1 draw, of cult hero Clint Hill equaliser fame where the captain played on the right-hand side of midfield and Lee Hodson played behind him at right-back, the following season saw an uneventful 0-0 draw.
His next positive result didn’t come until 2019/20, when Nicola Katic scored to give hope of sustained title challenge, only for a post festive period collapse that had become part of Steven Gerrard’s tenure to put paid to that.
In 2020/21, Rangers went unbeaten against Celtic in the Invincible league campaign winning 2-0 in the first encounter thanks to Connor Goldson before a 1-1 draw after the top-six split in a dead rubber.
The other “away” success was in the Scottish Cup semi-final of 2021/22 in a dramatic encounter that went to extra-time with Rangers emerging as 2-1 victors on their way to cup success.
