Not many players get to 500 games for a club in the modern era since the advent of the Bosman ruling with James Tavernier breaking the mould for Rangers.
The skipper has always been the subject of heated debate amongst the Ibrox faithful, however, there is something that fans seem to be united on.
Barry Ferguson made an inspired tactical change by moving Tavernier to centre-half against Kilmarnock as well as a change of shape and the Rangers manager has kept the 33-year old in an unfamiliar role.
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Rangers fans react with James Tavernier to centre-half again
Writing on social medial platform X, these Gers fans seemed to be happy with Ferguson’s decision to keep Tavernier at the heart of the Rangers defence:
“Tavernier at CB is decent to see but Yilmaz at RB still concerns me at times,” said @IgamaneProp, “Tav starts at CB? Fair play Barry,” said another.
There were a host of others who simply commented “Tav at CB” with a variety of emojis, whilst this fan felt like Tavernier’s display at Rugby Park that he has a new status at the club, “Playing our best cb at cb let’s go.”
There were a couple of concerns though – with Clinton Nsiala given a break from the limelight and a right-back picked at centre-half, what has happened to January signing Rafael Fernandes?
“Further evidence that Fernandes was a banter signing. Shifted out of the squad by Balogun. Impressive stuff by Koppen as always,” criticised one fan, while another questioned, ”Nsiala had to come out but surprised he’s not on the bench. Where’s Fernandes?”.
What has Tavernier said about playing at centre-half?
Tavernier impressed in the middle against Union Saint Gilloise with former Gers boss Philippe Clement hinting that the captain could be happy with the switch on a permanent basis:
“I think he even likes [playing at centre-back],” Clement smiles, wondering if a less physically-demanding role could extend the career of his 32-year-old veteran. “I heard even some rumours that he was saying to people ‘like this I can play a few years longer’.
“So yeah, Tav is a massive player. Somebody with a good view on football, with an understanding of the game, and that helps in that position. He has his technical qualities. So yeah, he likes to be also in that position.
“We talked about that a few months before. I can use him as a right full-back. I can use him as a centre-back. I can use him as a right winger, which we did also in some games, because he can make the difference also in that position. So that shows again the availability of this squad.”
If Tavernier performs well again, he might just have himself a new position after all, especially with Dujon Sterling back and able to provide a serious option at right-back – if only he had the resilience of his skipper.
