A Rangers team in transition are showing signs of serious progress under Philippe Clement, and not a moment too soon.
But while an impressive run of results in recent weeks has been sparked by the outstanding form of Hamza Igamane, not to mention the ever-growing influence of Jefte, Danilo and Mo Diomande, the Ibrox boss insists that it is not only those relative newcomers who can claim the credit.
John Souttar is playing his best football as a Rangers career. With Souttar picking up an injury in that 1-1 Europa League draw with Tottenham, 36-year-old Leon Balogun stepped in and rolled back the years.
Ianis Hagi, meanwhile, has gone from forgotten man to prodigal son.
And, with two goals and two assists in his last four games, James Tavernier’s recent revival has those penning the skipper’s obituary wondering if they had announced the death of his Rangers career a little prematurely.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Rangers‘ Scottish Premiership clash with Dundee on Saturday at 3pm, Clement expressed his view that a man who scored a stunner against Ross County and provided that sumptuous assist for Igamane against Spurs is actually the best version of James Tavernier he has seen since taking over from Mick Beale 14 months ago.
Philippe Clement thinks James Tavernier is better than ever at Rangers
“It’s not only the new guys and the young guys [who are making a big impact],” Clement argues. “I see the last couple of weeks also Tav performing really well. Maybe the best that I’ve seen him since the period that we are together!
“So it’s all the team making steps. And that’s the road we need to continue taking.”
To think, some were suggesting Rangers should drop Tavernier for that Scottish Cup meeting with Celtic at Hampden Park. Legendary striker Kris Boyd felt that the Ibrox captain was bound for the exit, predicting that Dujon Sterling would oust him permanently from Clement’s XI in his Scottish Sun column.
But rumours of Tavernier’s demise, it seems, have been greatly exaggerated.
James Tavernier hails Rangers’ turnaround over recent weeks
Clement lauded the ‘top class’ Tavernier after his ‘amazing’ goal in the 3-0 win at Ross County. British football’s all-time highest-scoring defender – if you can really call him a ‘defender’, of course – puts his and Rangers’ own return to form down a much-needed ruthless streak and a slight ‘tweak’ in the tactics.
“We obviously tweaked a little bit in the tactics, and it’s really showing the team really well,” Tavernier told reporters last week. “The team are really performing and, obviously, you’ve seen me get on the [score] sheet a couple of times now.
“You want to have that throughout the season. You can’t be perfect all the time but it’s about just continuing to keep working hard and that’s what everyone’s doing.
“Obviously goals haven’t come that much domestically but I think it was nine goals in two games over the course of last week [vs Kilmarnock and Ross County].
“We’ve been very critical of ourselves about performances. Just [things like] final third entries and being clinical in front of goal.
“I think we’ve been doing that of late, being really clinical and getting our rewards when we get into those positions.”
