Rangers captain James Tavernier has broken his Ibrox silence ahead of the new season in Scotland.
The Ibrox skipper, 32, taken part in an exclusive interview with RangersTV ahead of Saturday afternoon’s Scottish Premiership opener against Hearts at Tynecastle.
The interview comes with James Tavernier subject to extensive exit chatter this window as Rangers go through a substantial rebuild.
Connor Goldson has just left the building, joining John Lundstram, Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe in quitting the club this summer.
Tavernier was subject to interest from Trabzonspor earlier in the window and the Rangers captain has addressed those links in the interview.
Also touching on the club’s pre-season schedule, the new players coming into Ibrox and the Gers’ early ambitions in Champions League qualifying, it’s an interview you don’t want to miss.
The Rangers skipper even told the club’s media channel which of the new signings had the best initiation song at a pre-season training camp in the Netherlands.
Here is every word from James Tavernier as he spoke to RangersTV and reiterated his commitment to the Ibrox cause as he enters season number ten in Govan.
Tavernier on new season
”It’s always good to see when the season’s coming.
“Especially when you get the dates and when you first come in in pre-season, you obviously know it’s hard work in preparation that is obviously value for the season.
“But you really can’t wait for the season to start and with it just being around the corner the boys have worked extremely hard over the course of the pre-season and took in a lot of information from the gaffer and the tactics and how we want to play and it’s been really positive.”
Rangers captain on Clement’s style
“Each manager always has the type of way how they want to run the team shall I say, but it was a lot of football-based workouts we did through pre-season and we’ve obviously added extra running.
“But I think that’s been the main thing with everyone getting through pre-season with the fitness levels where the manager wanted them.
“They’ll come even more better as the first few games come in and the real match fitness will kick in.”
Tav talks injury
“It’s obviously unusual for us to miss (the start of pre-season training through injury) but with it being pre-season it was the perfect time to rest my hip flexor.
“I had a bit of fluid in there. It was the perfect time not to just push through it, let it settle down.
“Sitting on the sidelines even watching the lads train it was hard to do but my body feels a lot better now so getting two games underneath my belt before the season starts was key so me personally I’m ready to go.”
King James on level in squad
“You get to see everybody where their levels are at.
“Yeah it’s been good, obviously we’ve not won the games except from the behind-closed-doors, the Hamilton, but it’s all pre-season work so you know come the first game against Hearts I know the boys are all ready for it.”
Tavernier on Rangers exit speculation
“Just don’t take any notice basically. There’s been speculation for a long time now, if it’s a year and a half, and I addressed it towards the end of last season.
“I’m fully committed to the job in hand and that’s where my mindset will always be. Just fully committed, come in day-by-day and working my hardest to push myself and the team on.
“To do what I do every single day is to be a professional footballer, it’s like I’m 18 again every single day. It’s a joy for me to come in every single day to train, I’m living the dream.
“So yeah I appreciate the years that I’ve came, it’s been long which have gone really quick.
“When you’re young you get told by senior lads that your career will be over in the blink of an eye and they’re not wrong, it does go really quick.”
Tav on transfer policy
“Funny enough I was just having a conversation before, it’s a great opportunity and that’s what we’re going to have to rely on some experience and obviously a lot of youth.
“The direction the club’s going in, we want to build on a squad that’s going to be here for the future and that’s going to be competing in the future so we’re got to really push the young boys to step in.”
Tavernier talks experience
“It is when you’re playing rondos and obviously you get age groups and when I first came I was one of the youngest and now I’m now one of the oldest.
“Time flies. It makes us feel a little bit old but it’s good, because the young lads always push you and you give so much experience to the young boys.
“It’s good to see them develop as a footballer and we’ll be a key part of that, pushing them on.”
Which new signing had best initiation song?
“(The new signings have) settled in really well. We always have our little initiation songs when we went to Holland which was fun.
“I think Jefte maybe got the prize for that one being number one but yeah it was really good.
“They’ve all really settled in really well and they’re obviously keen to play in front of our fans and show our fans their qualities.”
Champions League target
“Our ambitions as a team and as a club are to be in the Champions League so we will do everything possible to try and get the club back into the Champions League this season.
“That’s our ultimate aim to start this off. European football is where we want to be every season.
“Obviously the League Cup we need to start well to try and get ourselves into another Final and try to get ourselves some early silverware.
“It’s an exciting month and I think that’s why we’ve been really pushed as a team because the squad’s going to need it for this month coming up and everyone will be asked to play a part.”
