Tav has been to hell and back in his time at Gers ... he deserves everything he has going for him right now

Weir praises captain as Ibrox club maintain huge lead in title race

IT was Rangers’ season from hell.

Lurching from one crisis to another, being battered by their fiercest rivals who smashed everything in their path to end up winning the title without losing a game all season.

Three different managers, using some players who simply weren’t up to the job and utterly incapable of putting the brakes on the juggernaut across the city.

If some of this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a near mirror image of this campaign. Only the football boot is on the other foot.

Back then, in 2016-17, the Ibrox club could only look on helplessly as Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic disappeared over the horizon, amassing 106 points and finishing an astonishing 39 clear of them.

They had started their first season back in the top flight under Mark Warburton, had Graeme Murty in for a spell as caretaker before seeing out the season with the disastrous appointment that was Pedro Caixinha.

With a squad comprising the likes of Joe Dodoo, Myles Beerman, Harry Forrester and Rob Kiernan, they simply were not equipped to handle the step up from the Championship in terms of mounting a title bid.

Indeed, they ended up nine points behind second-placed Aberdeen, scoring only 56 league goals all season.

To put that tally into perspective, Rangers have scored four more already this season and, with 14 games still to play, have accumulated 66 points – just one fewer than they claimed for the entire 16-17 campaign.

The turnaround is nothing short of remarkable and only two of the 30 players used by three managers that season are still with the club.

Youngster Jamie Barjonas, who made one start and three sub appearances, is still waiting on a major breakthrough. The other? James Tavernier. It’s fair to say he’s come a long way. Tavernier’s been promoted to club captain and the rightback’s form this season has been nothing short of sensational.

He’s favourite to pick up the player of the year awards at the end of the campaign but before then it’s the league trophy he’ll be posing with, unless Rangers suffer a catastrophic collapse.

And given they’ve won 21 of the 24 games they’ve played, drawing the three others, that seems highly unlikely.

A stalemate at Motherwell ended a sequence of 15 straight league wins and if Steven Gerrard’s team can win each of the 14 remaining games, they’ll beat Rodgers’ points in Celtic’s

Invincible season. While nobody at Ibrox will be bothered if they fall short of that tally, so long as the league is won, there’s no doubt Tavernier – the subject of so much criticism and on the wrong end of so many poor results over his five-and-a-half years in Glasgow – will be entitled to celebrate more than any other player on Rangers’ books.

David Weir was the last captain to hold aloft the league trophy back in 2011 before the financial implosion sent Rangers hurtling down the divisions.

And the former Scotland defender has nothing but admiration for the manner in which Tavernier has won over his critics and silenced doubters.

Weir was Warburton’s assistant when he brought Tavernier to the club from Wigan in the summer of 2015 and told Record Sport his quality and mentality were never in doubt.

He said: “I was captaining Rangers during a successful time and James hasn’t had that good fortune. It’s taken him time to get used to wearing the armband and that’s natural because it’s a big responsibility.

“It’s been a really tough time for Rangers in terms of not winning trophies so ultimately the captain is going to come in for stick. He’s had to come through some difficult times but has dealt with them really well.

“I’d say it must be even harder to be the Rangers captain in these days of social media. In my time fans would let you know if they weren’t happy during the games.

“But these days people vent their frustrations 24 hours a day.

“It’s horrible, it’s faceless and it’s hurtful. That makes it even harder to be the public figure of a club like Rangers but Tav has taken it all in his stride.

“James has had to deal with a bit of stick over the last couple of years but, when you’re at a club like Rangers or Celtic, that’s always going to be the case.

“There will be periods in your career when you experience difficult times. You just have to be able to handle it and navigate a way through. But he’s obviously been well supported by all the

managers who have had him. It’s no coincidence he’s been such a prominent performer for all of them.

“He has a really good manner about him. He’s a happy, positive person, a good teammate and a good athlete. He ticks all the boxes, he wants to do the right thing and is genuinely a likeable kid.

“So I’m pleased to see the way things are going for him and I hope it’s a sign of better days to come for him and for the club.”

Barring injury, Tavernier will make his 200th league appearance for Rangers against Kilmarnock on February 13.

His most memorable one is still to come.