Should James Tavernier be stripped of the Rangers captaincy?

It may be knee-jerk, it may even be fickle, but an overriding reaction from last night’s debacle is how badly James Tavernier undid all the good work he’s done as captain the past 12 months and became a true shame of the jersey.

He was not alone, let’s be absolutely clear, he wasn’t the only one having a God-awful night, but he IS the captain and unsurprisingly was nowhere to be seen for post-match media duties, leaving it instead for Scotty Arfield who has represented the club after bad results quite a few times before.

So, for us, Tavernier’s time as captain is done. A captain leads. They take responsibility. They certainly don’t in part cause the collapse then run away when it’s time to take numbers.

He showed his true nature – hiding, no accountability, and yet another deeply wounding blot on his fairly modest record as captain. His mistakes cost the team yet again, and he didn’t even say sorry.

James Tavernier is no Rangers captain, and while we may process this and think differently in a few days, as things stand, he should be stripped immediately.

Replaced by? John Lundstram or Scott Arfield – these two are the only two we trust as captain, two who truly lead and who remain strong players for the club. They are two of the few who earned respect last night, with Connor Goldson another.

Goldson has recently improved a lot but we’re nowhere near ready to want him as captain. Has to do it a bit more this season for us to be that fickle about a player who 10 days ago we’d have driven to the airport ourselves.

No, Scotty and Lundstram truly know what it is to play for Rangers, what this club means, and have earned the right to contend for the role.

Tavernier has now lost that right.

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