King of stats Tavernier in quest to beat trophy curse
JAMES TAVERNIER took his phenomenal Rangers career statistics to 79 goals and 106 assists with a typically barnstorming and influential role in Thursday’s Europa League heroics. As Rangers captain, however, it’s the figure next to ‘major domestic cup trophies’ that quickly becomes his focus of concern.
There’s a zero there, a glaring omission from Tavernier’s CV in almost seven seasons at Ibrox.
There are multiple reasons for this blot. The inexplicable when chucking away the 2016 Scottish Cup Final to Hibs.
The understandable of bumping into Brendan Rodgers’ rampant Celtic while in the flux of the Pedro Caixinha/Graeme Murty stewardship.
The unfathomable 2019 Betfred Cup Final defeat when so dominant against Celtic under Steven Gerrard.
Then the inexcusable of falling to Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Hearts, Motherwell and St Mirren at various deep stages of League and Scottish Cup tournaments.
The leader of the invincible squad that secured the ‘55’, Tavernier can’t be content before he puts in place at least one missing piece.
‘Yes, that’s been evident since I’ve been here,’ admitted Tavernier (right). ‘We’ve always come short, especially in these cup competitions domestically. We know it’s an area that we have to improve on as a team and a club.
‘But those games are in the past, we don’t think about them. When you play for Rangers you always want to get silverware and our aim is to get as much as we can.
‘That’s why all the boys wanted to sign for a club like Rangers — to win things.
‘The club demands silverware, the fans demand silverware. We just have to be fully on it until the end of the season and win all the games we possibly can.
‘We use the current momentum we have. We have just beaten Braga in a two-legged game and we beat Borussia Dortmund — big opponents in European football.
‘We’re in a European semi-final, so we’re using lots of confidence to take into this game.
‘I know all my boys will be fully at it and I know all my fans will be right behind us. We have to strive to drive one another on to try and get the result that we want. We want these cup wins, so the boys know we just have to deliver.’
When confronted by right-back Tavernier’s startling statistics, Giovanni van Bronckhorst euphemistically describes the trophy haul as ‘not common’.
With an appreciation of playing the position on the opposite flank at the highest level for years, however, we can take it that the Rangers boss is impressed. With the return to the side of Borna Barisic, he has allowed Tavernier greater licence in recent games to be impactful in the final third — to devastating effect.
Van Bronckhorst hinted he will be expecting the same again when tackling Celtic in today’s Scottish Cup semi-final.
‘We have, especially in recent games, been quite a lot in the opponents’ half and in positions where we can deliver crosses and dangerous deliveries,’ he said.
‘That’s one of the aspects we’ve been training on a lot in recent weeks, to create more danger when we are in those moments.
‘In the second half against Celtic last time we were in those moments a lot but didn’t create the danger we wanted. I think we showed on Thursday — and against St Mirren — that we are improving in those areas.
‘We definitely have to improve also against Celtic and, of course, score.
‘It’s not only the full-backs, the whole team needs to improve in that scenario. Many assists and scoring goals from James is a great thing for this team to have. His numbers show the quality that he has with his driving forward. I didn’t have those numbers! He’s doing really well, I’m happy for him and the team with his contributions. He just needs to keep going.
‘I’m happy with the performances of Borna in the last couple of games, he has played really well.
‘He had a tough period but he worked hard to be ready when needed. We know his qualities, I’m really happy he’s at a good level.’ Rangers need to dig deep into their stamina reserves again in the wake of a massive European Thursday night.
Top-six opponents Dundee United and Motherwell held Rangers to draws after the Dortmund epics. They won at Dundee twice following the Red Star Belgrade games and triumphed at St Mirren in between the Braga ties. ‘Thursday was a great result for us,’ beamed Tavernier.
‘Going into extra-time meant an extra 30 minutes in the bank. But we have a great medical department who worked round the clock to get us in the best condition.
‘We have to use the confidence and momentum from that game on this occasion. Other games are in the past and we go in with full confidence and great belief. We will give our all to make sure we get to the final.’ DOUBLING UP: