Philippe Clement will have a list of priorities to work his way through now that he has officially taken over as Rangers manager, the position of James Tavernier being one of them.
The soon to be 32-year old is our top goalscorer for the season which says as much about the new forwards as it does for the much maligned skipper’s own form.
But it is his position as captain after years of failure that has been called into question with the point being raised, via Rangers TV, to Philippe Clement about James Tavernier’s status at the club.
New Rangers boss could strip James Tavernier of armband
It would take a brave manager to join a new club and immediately strip the captain of the armband.
There are two sets of numbers that Rangers fans will always point to depending on what side of the argument you stand on though.
- The number of trophies he has won in his time at the club or,
- The number of goals and assists he has.
Speaking at his first press conference, Clement got straight to the point when asked about James Tavernier and whether or not there would be a new Rangers captain:
“I don’t see a reason for the moment to change those things. I think I need to focus on many others for the moment and step by step look at what is the best story for the club. But I don’t see a reason at the moment to change that, no.”
Interestingly, he doesn’t completely rule out a change but he is clever enough to give himself space and time to assess the squad and situation.
Given that the Belgian boss was quite happy to banish a player for taking a penalty against team instructions, changing his captain won’t give him sleepless nights, if he has to.
Clement does have more important things to consider just now and fans will just need to accept that James Tavernier is going to be leading Rangers out of the tunnel on match days – for now, at least.
