With Danny Rohl discussing James Tavernier’s Rangers future, it’s time for Ibrox Noise to throw our oar in.
We do not speak for all Rangers fans of course, but we’d like to think we’ve got our finger (mostly) on the pulse of the majority, give or take.
We think we have an idea of how fans feel about most things, even if we don’t always agree with our fellow supporter.
Contract
So when we offer a take on something, it’s with the fans in mind. And of course, what topic is going to be more intriguing than the merits or otherwise of Tavernier getting a new contract?
We’ve not run a poll on this one, so what you’re consuming is more of a subjective take rather than quantitative data-based.
And on that subjective take, we’d only endorse a new contract for him if his pay was massively reduced from the current £37,000pw, he was a squad player, and he was no longer captain.
Effectiveness
James Tavernier, regardless of the goals and assists, is one of the least effective right backs for this club in modern times. We’ve seen practically two minutes of Tuur Rommens and already he looks a 20x better full back than his counterpart.
Tav sums up Rangers’ ‘lesser’ era, a time we’ve won absolutely hee haw, and he’s led it.
He will always have a hardcore ‘my captain’ following, fans who believes the sun shines out his backside. That’s fair enough, everyone has their view.
Gough
But when we compare him to past captains like Gough, Butcher, Barry and even Amo, there’s no comparing. Same when compared with past right backs like Stevens and Hutton.
Tavernier is embarrassing when put up to real Rangers stuff of the past.
We don’t hate him, we never did. But we do grow tired of the cult-like endorsement and following he gets from so many quarters, all because of his goals and assists.
We’re not dissing them, he has scored a lot and assisted a lot. But this has been at the expense of defending, and exposes that the holes he’s left behind gaining glory at the other end has cost a lot.
Plumber
He’s a plumber who leaves the leaking flooding toilet behind to fix the fusebox upstairs, if you like.
As such, a new deal has to be on Rangers’ terms, not his. And Tavernier cannot be captain going forward into next season, in our view.
We know some quarters will give us hate for this, while others will agree fortuitously. It’s a divisive topic. One Rangers fans have been arguing about ever since Steven Gerrard made him captain in 2018.
But for us, Tavernier ran his race long ago. If we want to be winners, he just isn’t the right man to lead us there. James Tavernier’s Rangers future has to change.
Mind you, as a paradox… who actually is?