Honest Tavernier reflection sees Rangers skipper accept form criticism

Honest Tavernier reflection sees Rangers skipper accept form criticism

Rangers season started slowly, picked up, looked promising, and then derailed just as quickly with Philippe Clement still fighting for this job.

One of the issues that the manager has had to deal with is players in his squad coming back from long-term injury being compounded by others being unavailable too.

In recent weeks, the absence of James Tavernier has seen Ridvan Yilmaz deployed as an auxiliary right-back, but the Rangers skipper is fully fit again and keen to hit top form once again, starting against Man Utd.

James Tavernier out to prove a point with Rangers form

Speaking to Jeff Stelling and Gers great Ally McCoist on the Talksport breakfast show, the captain was asked by the Hall of Fame striker how he felt his season had gone on a personal level:

“Me and Connor (Goldson) had a really good relationship, we played a good, four or five years with each other (it was six) and we had an understanding.

“He’d let me just bomb up and down the pitch, especially when Gio (van Bronckhorst) came in. He just gave me an unlimited license to go forward and that’s probably when you saw me arriving at that back post a lot more.

“It’s obviously, this season, a completely different set up with other teams and it’s just about adapting.

“Personally, I think I started off the season slow from what I normally am. I didn’t get the pre-season like I normally did.

“I started finding some form and got injured, so it’s just about finding that form again and pushing the boys on.”

How do Rangers replace James Tavernier?

With three goals and seven assists, Tavernier’s numbers reflect his own opinion in that he hasn’t been as prolific at the sharp end of the pitch.

Rangers not being awarded a penalty all season in the league contributes to those statistics, but the 33-year old has yet to hit the net from a free-kick too.

What he has done, is link up well with Vaclav Cerny, who has produced the sort of return that a winger should in a team that dominates games.

This is the model that Nils Koppen should adhere to when replacing Tavernier because right-backs don’t usually score 137 career goals with plenty of miles still on the clock.