TALKING RANGERS
INLUXEMBOURGWITHRANGERS OALS were never in short supply for James Tavernier during his first campaign at Ibrox. Now new ones are being set for Rangers.
A campaign that was eventful yet uninspiring has been banished and everyone in Light Blue is looking onwards and upwards.
That must be the case come the final whistle in Luxembourg this evening.
There is a new feel and a fresh impetus about Rangers this summer and the benefits could be significant on an individual and collective basis.
Pedro Caixinha has picked up the pieces and set about putting them back together again, with the help of a few extra bits, of course.
Tavernier remains an important part of the picture, though, as he, like the rest of his teammates who survive the cull during the close season, attempt to make amends for a wretched second season at Ibrox.
Victory over Progres Niederkorn last Thursday evening wasn’t exactly a glamorous start, but it was a step in the right direction nonetheless.
Another in the second leg tonight would set up a tie with AEL Limassol and continue the feelgood factor that is around the club at present.
“The gaffer has brought in some new faces and we have been working really hard the weeks that we have been in,” Tavernier said.
“It is a good, fresh start and we are all really ready for the game tonight and the games that come up. It was obviously disappointing last season but you have just got to push that to one side and work on the season that is coming up.”
Tavernier was an integral component of the team that swept to Championship glory two seasons ago but life in the top flight last term was harder than many at Ibrox expected.
It was always going to be difficult for the right-back to replicate his scoring feats in the Premiership but his attacking threat, the best part of his game, was too often stifled.
If Caixinha can bring out the best in Tavernier once again, it won’t just be the 25-year-old that reaps the rewards.
“If I can assist the boys further up the pitch, that is what I want to do when I am up the park,” Tavernier said.
“I want to keep a lot of clean sheets at the back as well with the rest of the defenders and the keeper. I will try and score goals as I can, but my main aim is just to help the team and help us achieve our goals.”
One of those ambitions is to reach the Europa League group stages, but that may well prove to be the toughest challenge that Caixinha sets his side this season. A meeting with Limassol
Gwould be just the second of four hurdles that the Gerss would have to overcome. rcome. The road betweenetween them and a Europeanuropean cash bonus s is far from smooth..
It is a chalallenge Tavern- ier is relish- ing, though, as the former Newcastle United kid looks to make an n impact on his own re- turn to conti- nenta l competition. “It has beenen few years rs a since I have played European football and being m more experienced now I can enjoyenj it more,” he said. “I have got an e experienced head on my shoulders so hope hopefully I can take th that into the game game. ““We have to do that [reach the g group stages es]. It was a bi big thing for me coming to RangersRange because EuropeanEurope football has beenbe in the club’s history for plenty o of years.” It wasw Kenny Miller that found the netne at Ibrox last week as he ensured Rangers’ return to European action wasn’t a night to forget.
PROGRES posed little attacking threat in Glasgow and a goal at the Stade Josy Barthel tonight would surely be enough to send Caixinha’s side safely through to the next round.
Nobody in Light Blue will take anything for granted but a job that was started on home soil should now be finished on the road.
“We are 1-0 up and it is important to get an early goal and keep a clean sheet as a defensive unit,” Tavernier said.
“Our aim is to win the game and put it to bed early. Set-pieces will be key for them, and counter-attacks. We have just got to keep a solid base, a solid shape and try and not make any mistakes to keep a clean sheet on the night.”
A victory in Luxembourg won’t go down as the most eyecatching of the campaign for Rangers but it would be important in its own right.
A short summer break and condensed pre-season schedule was far from ideal preparation for the new campaign. There could be a welcome positive, however.
“Momentum is always a great thing and if we are winning it will always be a positive thing for the side and for the confidence of the boys,” Tavernier said.
“We are only concentrating on tonight. Concentrate on that and then we will look at the next game.”