James Tavernier is a bit of a mystery at Rangers.
The captain is approaching 500 appearances, having scored over 100 goals for the club as a right-back, and will have spent ten years at Ibrox by July.
Tavernier has been a tremendous servant to Rangers, without a doubt, but his name has been synonymous with the club’s dismal performance over the last decade.
The 33-year-old has only won three major titles in his tenure at Ibrox, a disappointing return for a club with such rich heritage, which is now again under the shadow of its great rivals Celtic.
Rangers’ heartbreaking 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat to second-tier Queen’s Park last Saturday was a microcosm of Tavernier’s Gers tenure, summed up by his last-gasp penalty mistake that could have saved his team and Philippe Clement’s skin.
Rangers will undoubtedly sell James Tavernier this summer.
That head-on-hands incident was summed up by an article in the Daily Mail’s Rangers Confidential section (13 February), which read: “The catastrophic cost of that miss on Sunday has exposed him to the worst of the criticism from supporters, many of whom had already argued that his time was up.”
And therein lays the essence of the truth.
Many Gers fans have decided beyond reason that Tavernier’s time is up, and as harsh as it may feel, it is difficult to deny that this is the case now.
Tavernier is under contract with Rangers until the summer of 2026, but after being heavily linked with a move last summer, you can’t help but believe there will be an inevitable parting of ways at the end of the season after ten years of service.
Tavernier a victim of Rangers off-field decision-making
History will show that Tavernier had the best years of his career with Rangers, as well as the incredible number of goals he scored from defence.
But still, the nagging thought that there could have been more. And thats’ certainly not a criticism targeted directly at him, he is instead nearly a victim of the terrible decision making that has plagued the club, notably since the title triumph managed by Steven Gerrard in 2021.
That 55th crown should have sparked a continuous run of prosperity, but mediocrity has since become the norm.
Rightly or unjustly, Tavernier remains associated to emotion, and as such, it is time for Rangers to part ways.
