That win’s our Light Blueprint for next season
Tav: We’re in great shape but we need to make every game count
RANGERS skipper James Tavernier helped blow away Celtic and insisted the best is yet to come from his side. The Light Blues laid down a marker for excellence with their 2-0 win as the eight in a row champions were run ragged at Ibrox for the second time this season. The full-back, who opened the scoring inside two minutes, revelled in a victory against his old rivals he has tasted just three times in his four years in Glasgow. He admitted the win was tinged with frustration that they didn’t show their level of form in Old Firm fixtures against other lesser lights in the Premiership. Rangers have drawn nine league games and lost another five with a roller-coaster run of form that ultimately did for any hopes of a sustained title challenge. Tavernier, 27, insists they can do better next time around, not least because his side still have higher levels left to find. He said: “The performance against Celtic was up there in terms of this season and I still believe we have another gear or two in us.
“We were exceptional from the first whistle in carrying out the game plan set out by the management staff and I’m really proud of all the boys.
“We must now take that into next season. Over the past five league games we have shown a real dominance in the way we have played and in the system we have worked on.
“We definitely believe we need to carry that into next season because once the season ends we will reflect with some frustration and know it’s in other games we’ve lacked consistency.
‘If we learn from those lessons before next season then we will definitely be in a title race.
‘There are positives there, so if we can take them and look at and correct the negatives, then I believe we will be in a really good position.
“How far away are we from a title BY GARY RALSTON challenge? I think we are definitely there. We have gone toe-to-toe with Celtic, who have deserved to win the league.
“That is down to us and our lack of consistency, but we feel we have the team and the manager is going to strengthen in the summer. We are in a good position.”
Ill discipline has cost Rangers in a campaign in which they have seen 12 players dismissed although one of those cards, for Alfredo Morelos at Aberdeen, was later rescinded.
They dropped two points in that game on the opening day of the season, three points at Parkhead when the Colombian was also dismissed in March and when Morelos was suspended they lost points against sides such as Dundee, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone.
Rangers also suffered costly defeats at venues such as Livingston and Kilmarnock, with the defeat against the latter in January costing them momentum they had built on the back of their 1-0 defeat of Celtic at Ibrox on December 29.
Tavernier added: “The gap was too big for us in the end and it was only our fault it became that size.
“Obviously, there is a lot of frustration in that but we can take a lot of positives from the end of the season.
“The gaffer said to us to finish the season strongly and we have shown we can do that. We have got to keep on building and not take any steps backwards.”
Tavernier’s opener from the curling freekick, which deceived Celtic keeper Scott Bain as it flew into the bottom corner of his net, was his 17th strike of the season.
He has now gone two goals better than his previous season’s best in 2015-16, with the league finale at Kilmarnock still to come on Sunday.
He added: “I really enjoyed my goal. I spoke to Ryan Kent before I took it and he told me just to aim for that back post.
“That’s what I did and you have seen them go in during games. I’m just delighted that it did.
“It was definitely a bit of both, a cross and shot. You see players do it and sometimes it goes all the way through and into the net.
“First and foremost, you have got to put it in an area that will cause the opposition problems.
“From the start we were working really hard in the game but that early goal helped to set the tone.
“I felt we were more relaxed after scoring inside just a couple of minutes and the fans got right behind us.
“It is exceptional for me and for guys such as Wes Foderingham because we have been waiting for these days for a long time, especially being at the club for so long.
“I was speaking to Wes in the changing room and that is his first win over Celtic since the Scottish Cup semi-final in 2016.
“The first time that we won was obviously a weight off the shoulders but we want to set a mark and we want to say that we are back and that we will go toe-to-toe with Celtic.”
Tavernier also denied playing mind games by allowing Celtic to take to the field moments ahead of Rangers as the Ibrox crowd delivered a vocal thumbs down to the champions. He said: “I had four mascots and they were leading us, so it was just about getting them out. They have got small legs! There were no mind games.”
I still believe we have another gear or two in us but this was up there JAMES TAVERNIER ON FUTURE FOR RANGERS