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.
