James Tavernier has taken a lot of flak during his spell as Rangers captain. Some of it warranted, some not.
As Gers skipper, he has often been at the forefront of fan gripes around the years of underperformance at the club. Seen as the figurehead who should be driving standards.
He can’t, of course, do it on his own and blaming him for a team’s deficiencies is incredibly harsh.
Even this week, Rangers fans were giving it to Tavernier about an Instagram post from Todd Cantwell which tagged him, thought to be in reference to Philippe Clement’s sacking.
Interim boss Barry Ferguson had the opportunity to shake things up and change captains when he came in, but opted to stick with Tavernier in one of his first calls as manager.
It looks to be paying off as Fergie singled out the 33-year-old for his performance against Kilmarnock, after shuffling him into centre half after the early struggles.
A moment between the Englishman and a teammate post-match is underlining his captaincy qualities.
Tavernier consoles Rangers teammate Clinton Nsiala
Clinton Nsiala, alongside centre half partner Robin Propper, was having a torrid time in the first half and either could have been substituted. But Ferguson opted for the 20-year-old.
Tavernier has already shared how he and his teammates will rally around Nsiala.
It seems he has already been doing that after footage from post-match emerged. Rangers Review writer Joshua Barrie shared a video from Rangers’ social media and wrote: “Nice moment between Tavernier and Nsiala around 2.20 in.”
At that point, the team and temporary boss are taking the acclaim of the support from the away end when the camera pans to the pair.
Tavernier has his arm around Nsiala and appears to be reassuring him with a fairly lengthy message. The work of a captain.
What Tavernier said about Nsiala
Tavernier addressed the situation with his young teammate post-match.
“Obviously, Clinton is a young lad,” he said. I was chatting to him before, these are things you’ve got to keep working on.
“You can’t get your head down. These are things that come with football. We will get round him.”
