Rangers

James Tavernier’s contract is coming up at the end of the season and his future still remains uncertain, but if this is going to be his swan song – no one deserves to win the Scottish Premiership more than the Rangers captain.  Tavernier signed for the Light Blues whilst they were in the Scottish Championship in 2015 and it’s been a rollercoaster of a journey. There’s been a lot of great times and a lot of bad ones but one thing is for sure – the right-back has been the Ibrox club’s best and most important player over the last 11 years. In 2018, Steven Gerrard made the decision to appoint Tavernier as the club captain – a call that did surprise many of the Rangers faithful at the time. Former Rangers boss Mark Warburton, who signed Tavernier, never seen him as captain material when he worked with him between 2015-2017. It was a role that Tavernier did struggle with at first, but over time he grew into it and guided the Govan club to their 55th league title and to a European final. One thing that gets unfairly labeled at the Englishman is that he is a ‘serial loser’ due to not having won more trophies. Firstly, it’s not Tavernier’s fault that he’s had to play in some dross Rangers teams for the majority of his career. Secondly, he doesn’t sign the players or appoint the managers and if anything – he’s the one whose carried Rangers for years! If you put Barry Ferguson in some of the teams Tavernier has played in, he would have won the same number of trophies. People forget that football is a team game and there’s only so much the former Wigan Athletic player can do – but he always gets made out to be the scapegoat, which is embarrassing. Tavernier is Britain’s highest scoring defender of all time with a staggering 153 goals and is the fourth highest scoring defender of all time – it’s nothing short of remarkable. The 34-year-old has been incredibly loyal to Rangers and played an instrumental part in helping the club reach the Europa League final in 2022 and finished top goal scorer of the competition with seven goals. The Rangers supporters do seem to forget all the unbelievably iconic things that Tavernier has done for the club and time will be kind to him once he eventually moves on. As Connor Goldson famously said: “This football club won’t appreciate James Tavernier until James Tavernier is not here.” The Rangers Hall of Famer has received a ridiculous amount of criticism over the years but it’s never phased the Bradford-born defender – he’s without doubt one of the most mentally strong players in the game who is the ultimate professional and role model. Danny Rohl has remained tight-lipped on Tavernier’s future and said he’ll discuss his future once the season is finished. The German head coach dropped Tavernier for the back-to-back Old Firm derbies in March, which came as a big surprise. We all know age catches up with everyone, but Tavernier is an incredible athlete who takes great care of himself. He’s never injured and is always reliable. He’s Rangers’ top goal scorer this season with 14 goals – even at his age, he still has plenty to offer. Ideally, if it was up to me, I would give Tavernier a one year extension because he’s an asset and will be extremely difficult to replace. However, if this is going to be his last season – it would be the perfect way to end his Rangers career as a champion, and no one and I mean no one, deserves it more than him. After everything he’s been through, Rangers need to go and win the Premiership for the legend that is James Henry Tavernier.

Former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has said that Danny Rohl is doing a ‘phenomenal’ and ‘immaculate’ job so far.  Back in October, the Ibrox club were eighth in the league table and trailed league leaders Hearts by 11 points, which led to the sacking of failed former boss Russell Martin after only 17 games in charge. Rohl replaced Martin and has got the Light Blues back in the title race and are one point behind Derek McInnes’ men. Gerrard looked set to return to the Gers after Martin’s sacking but said the timing wasn’t right for him. The Liverpool legend is adored by the Ibrox faithful as he delivered the club’s 55th league title and stopped bitter rivals Celtic winning ten Premiership’s in a row. Speaking on talkSPORT, Gerrard was full of praise for the job the German head coach is doing at his former club. “I dare say he’s been phenomenal, what was it, 13 points off the top? “What a job. He’s come in, he’s said all the right things, he’s tweaked things on the pitch, he’s signed good players in January. I think he’s been immaculate. “But how good is it Ally, when you win on a Saturday, you’re ready and all that on a Sunday and you watch the others play and the pressure is on the others. It’s brilliant isn’t it?” Gerrard’s last managerial role in the game was with Al-Ettifaq in 2025 and is ready to return to the dugout if the right opportunity was to present itself in the future. “My family are back home in Liverpool, the kids are all settled at school. I’m more ready than I have been. I’m all ears. “But at the same time, I’m not chasing. I’m not searching, I’m not desperate. I’m in a good place. “Work-life balance is fantastic at the moemnt but if the right opportunity comes, I’m all ears to listen to that. “But I’m having a fantastic time at TNT with Ally and the boys and the girls, covering some big games.”

Steven Gerrard appeared on the Overlap and was asked about his successful time as Rangers manager.  The footballing legend spoke of his regret leaving the Ibrox club for Aston Villa in 2021 as he only lasted eight months in charge. Gerrard made history and won the Light Blues their first league title in ten years and stopped Celtic doing ten in a row. The Rangers faithful were devastated when Gerrard left as they were top of the league and were going in the right direction under his management. The former England international said on the Overlap that looking back he wished he had stayed put at Rangers. Hindsight is obviously one thing, but I can understand why he made the switch to Villa at that time. Gerrard is a serial winner with extremely high standards – that’s why he was one of the best midfielders to ever grace the game. After the Ibrox club won their 55th league title, the former board got complacent and took their foot off the gas. Gerrard wanted to kick on and take Rangers to the next level and the board weren’t willing to support his demands and vision. The Liverpool legend was frustrated and rightly so because he was proved right as the last title Rangers won was with Gerrard as manager. Gerrard spent well with not a huge budget and delivered on what he was brought in to do – he was let down in his final season with poor recruitment and lack of funds. The former England international took charge in 2018 and the club were in a complete mess. He was able to build a team went on to become Premiership champions and Europa League finalists The only negative thing about Gerrard’s tenure in Glasgow was that he should have won more, but he delivered the big one which was bringing that title back to Govan. We can’t ignore the elephant in the room and gloss over the fact that Gerrard did knock Rangers back twice last year, but I can also see why he did. For a starter, he didn’t feel comfortable working with former sporting director Kevin Thelwell and former CEO Patrick Stewart, and do you really blame him? They were two horrendous appointments who were dismissed not long after Danny Rohl’s appointment, and rightly so. If Gerrard was afforded the freedoms that Rohl has now got – he most likely would have took the job back in October. But take nothing away from Rohl, who is doing an unbelievable job and has got Rangers right back into the title race – something many thought was impossible months ago. The way Gerrard speaks about Rangers, you can tell he loves the club and that he still has unfinished business. Rohl will eventually move on at some point but hopefully that isn’t for a long time. Whenever that time comes, I would love to see Gerrard return to the Ibrox dugout and pick up right from where he left off. He won the most important league title in the club’s history and ruined the biggest season in Celtic’s history. I believe one day he will be back in that Ibrox dugout, and I really hope it happens.

Former Rangers boss Mark Warburton says that James Tavernier is still an asset to the club and hopes he extends his stay at Ibrox. The Rangers Hall of Famer’s contract is up at the end of the season and there has been a lot of speculation surrounding his future. Tavernier joined the Light Blues 11 years ago and was signed by Warburton in the Scottish Championship. Speaking on the GersNet Podcast, Warburton couldn’t speak highly enough of his former player and believes Tavernier can always contribute to the team. “I know Tav so well. I’ve said enough things, Tav knows – huge respect for him as a person and a player. “He’s come through some tough times, he’s had a lot of criticism thrown at him, and he’s weathered the storm. “He’s just a genuinely good person. I would love to see him stay. Maybe, it’s a chance for him to go and get a payday somewhere, not in terms of being greedy, but his career will come to an end sooner rather than later. “But I’d just love to see him stay at Rangers and he can always contribute on and off the field, on the bench, on the training pitch, he’s someone who will give everything for Rangers.” The right-back has been a main stay in the Gers starting 11 since 2015 and Warburton believes there needs to be more people in the game that have a similar attitude and approach to their craft like Tavernier does. “I can’t remember Tav ever missing a training session, let alone a game. “He enjoys his trade and there’s loads of players that don’t enjoy it enough and they don’t realise the privilege they’ve got of being a player but Tav has never lost sight of that fact. “Always smiled, from the first time I spoke to him – it was a smile and you go ‘yes the guy loves it’ it’s infectious. “I just think he’s good around the club. He’s been a huge contributor to Rangers now over the last ten or 11 years or more. “But I just think for me, he’s an asset and assets are hard to find and I would love to see the club and Tav come to some sort of an agreement that works for both parties.

Danny Rohl believes his side have the quality to go all the way and win the Scottish Premiership title as the German head coach talks up Rangers’ chances.  The Ibrox club face Dundee United tomorrow and have the opportunity to go top of the league for the first time in TWO years. Rohl’s men have won their last two games and are only two points behind league leaders Hearts, who play Livingston on Sunday. Speaking ahead of the clash against United, the Rangers boss said his squad are in a strong place mentally. He said: “I’m happy, I feel really good because I see my group at the moment, I see the development, I think we are mentally strong. “Even if you go away, we took the win against St Mirren, the pressure was on after two draws, but we came back, and we made a very good performance against Aberdeen. “It gives me a lot of belief, there is no doubt, my group is strong – I’m convinced we have the quality to win the league. “It’s a good feeling but the best feeling should be after the game when we win the game and we are top. “We have to work hard for that. We played Dundee United two times this year and we couldn’t win against them, and this is a new challenge. “They did well against Celtic, we are prepared for this, we know what we face tomorrow and it will be a challenge.”