James Tavernier’s motivation levels have surely been through the roof given his improvement in recent years.
The Rangers captain signed back in 2015 when Mark Warburton was still in charge. It was during those days that he was often labelled as a defensive bomb-scare despite his clear ability to go forward.
Former Rangers coach Jimmy Nicholl revealed that’s exactly what motivates the Rangers captain. There have been plenty of questions in the past about whether the Gers skipper could hold his own defensively.
Whilst there are still clear vulnerabilities in Tavernier’s defensive game, nobody can say he hasn’t improved.
Nicholl worked with Tavernier during his stint at Ibrox as a coach before becoming caretaker manager for the final games of last season. Speaking in the Scottish Sun, Nicholl stated that it’s those defensive critics that spur on the Rangers captain.
“it reminds me of a time in my own Rangers career, before a game against Dundee United.The manager Graeme Souness and his assistant Walter Smith told me United had been talking about Rangers’ weakness.
“They were going to target me, get in behind me and exploit what they felt was my weakness in the air. I said ‘is that right?’ That’s when personal pride comes into it and I remember getting the bit between my teeth and making sure it didn’t happen.
“It’s the same with Tav, I remember pointing out articles to him where people said he was Rangers’ weakness. He has to use that as a spur and I think he does. Has he been been better defensively this season? Yes. Has he still got a bit to go? Yes. But he can get there.”
An incredible turnaround
It doesn’t seem that long ago since sections of the Rangers support were speculating on replacements for Tavernier. His defensive vulnerabilities were so much on show that his attacking play didn’t compensate for it.
Now? He’s a massive fan-favorite and is never out the Rangers team. So much so that Steven Gerrard doesn’t even have a natural back-up replacement outside of Jon Flanagan, who mainly occupies the left.
From wanting him away to rejecting multi-million pound bids for his services, Rangers have been through it all with Tavernier. He only recently signed a new contract, tying him to Ibrox until 2022.
Speculation continues to drum up about interested suitors ahead of the January transfer window. As per usual, Rangers are having to ignore it all and get on with making progress domestically and in Europe.
Tavernier is going to be a huge part of that, and will no doubt continue to develop at a rapid rate as the weeks go on.
