The biggest criticism of James Tavernier is that he hasn’t won enough trophies in his time at Rangers.
The Viaplay Cup completes the domestic honours set for the right-back and his form in Europe since joining the Gers squad under Mark Warburton can also never be questioned. But he knows himself that Sunday should just be the start.
Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, former teammate Andy Halliday knows full well just how good a player Tavernier is and has been waxing lyrical about the Rangers skipper’s incredible numbers.
Andy Halliday on Rangers star James Tavernier
Andy Halliday said: “People need to realise that if James Tavernier was as good defensively as he was going forward, he wouldn’t be at Rangers. It’s as simple as that.
“I do feel a lot of the criticism has been unfair in terms of him not being a captain, but that for me yesterday (Sunday), shows why he is a captain.
“Because it’s another big moment and Rangers are looking for somebody to grasp it and he’s the one that’s come up with the goods again.”
One of the biggest frustrations from Steven Gerrard’s tenure was not winning a treble in 2020/21.
We were, by miles, the best team in the country. Rangers conceded just 13 goals in the league, went through a league campaign unbeaten and still conspired to throw away the two cups. And that was without even having to play Celtic or one of Scottish football’s bigger sides.
There is still work to be done by manager Philippe Clement but momentum is building at Ibrox. The next three league games could well decide the destiny of the Scottish Premiership title and whether or not James Tavernier and his teammates can deliver it for Rangers.
Back to Halliday’s comments, our ex-midfielder is bang on the money. Very rarely is it Tavernier that lets Rangers down in big games.
Yes, he has made the odd mistake. But so did Gary Stevens and he was as good a right-back as there was in Europe when he was at his peak. Stevens also didn’t have 115 Rangers goals to his name and almost the same number of assists.
Tavernier has so much credit in the bank in terms of his personal output. Now, it is as part of the team where he has to deliver. It’s the one area where Stevens, perhaps more importantly, has the edge and that’s trophy count.
This season, Tavernier has a big chance to make up for lost time at Rangers and grab the medals to match his impressive individual record. One down, two or potentially three to go?
