Has Steven Gerrard pulled off a James Tavernier masterstroke?

With the current interest in James Tavernier currently stepping up a notch at Ibrox with offers from Championship side West Brom and another on the cards from Brighton, I couldn’t help but wonder something about the decision to make Tavernier captain of our Great Club.

We got an interesting comment on the site suggesting anyone who thought Steven Gerrard made Tav captain only to sell him was on ‘another planet’.

According to Sky Sources it is suggested that the bid that came in from West Brom was £3m. Hardly to be sniffed at and with Barisic coming in we wouldn’t need to look for a replacement re: Flanagan over on the right. Anyway I digress from what I set out to say.

We here at IN didn’t agree much when Stevie Ger gave Tavernier the armband. We didn’t (and don’t) find him captain material. He lacks substantially in our opinion albeit slightly better in leadership v Aberdeen. Which got me thinking.

Has making Tav captain been deliberate, tactical? Any Rangers captain is always elevated up a level of superiority, whether they’re captain material or not. Making Tav captain would help to bolster his status as a Rangers player, and crucially, his value – the fact Rangers are holding out for £5M shows we are open to selling.

It is clear Brighton and West Brom have been tracking him for months, and Gerrard would know that – he would know bids were coming in. But he’d want a healthy chunk of cash for said player.

Get other teams interested and hopefully, hopefully, sell him at a premium. Essentially ‘falsely’ elevating his credibility. Now I may be well off the mark guys and Stevie Ger might truly think Tav is captain material, but then again I might just be right in my observation and it was an astute and tactical switch.

Furthermore, Stevie has been massive in his praise for Ryan Jack, calling him amazing and making him ‘jealous’ of his contribution. Jack was captain at Aberdeen.

Maybe it’s 1+1=5.

Or maybe I’m onto something?