Tavernier top of the charts
Defender outscores Jardine and Greig then gets medal from greatest ever Ranger
YOU don’t get too many aspiring footballers starting out in life with a burning ambition to cut it at the highest level as a full-back. In a game where goals are king, even bog-standard centre-forwards tend to get more plaudits than the most stellar supporting cast at the opposite end of the field.
In James Tavernier, Mark Warburton seems to have unearthed a player with a fairly simple solution to that problem.
The full-back’s equalising header against Alloa was his 15th goal of the season, edging him one ahead of the record tally shared by John Greig and Sandy Jardine in the annals of Rangers’ free-scoring defenders.
Not bad for a player whose introduction to life at Ibrox was a collective shrug of the shoulders last summer.
These days, the ‘Blue Cafu’ — as many a jersey inside a capacity Ibrox underscored — is as popular a figure as any who have ensured the final leg of the journey became rather more relaxed than anticipated.
How fitting then, that on the day the second anniversary of Jardine’s untimely passing was marked with rapturous applause from all sides of the stadium, the man hanging the Championship medal around Tavernier’s neck on the podium at the end was none other than the legendary figure of Greig.
‘He was the first person I wanted to see,’ smiled Tavernier. ‘Before I came in today, it was my intention to get a goal and beat the record at home.
‘I gave him a little bit of stick before the game and told him: “I’m coming for your record”.
He responded by giving me stick about my penalty against Celtic and I took it on the chin. I spoke to him afterwards and he gave me a handshake and congratulated me.
‘I’ve had chats with him every time we’ve had a game and he’s someone you really want to listen to because he has so much experience and is one of the main men here.
‘To be able to take things from him, with him being a full-back himself, is a dream. Everything he says I take into account and it helps me in my game.
‘You can’t just talk to him — I’ve looked into what he did as well and spoken to others around the club, such as kitman Jimmy Bell.
‘He speaks highly of him all the time and you can look on the Internet and see what he’s done — and to be voted the greatest-ever Ranger, obviously, speaks volumes.’
A predictably flat affair was long forgotten by the time the full-backs of Rangers past and present exchanged some friendly barbs moments before Lee Wallace held the Championship trophy aloft.
The high of winning the title, the Petrofac Training Cup and eliminating Celtic from the Scottish Cup in short order was always going to see a marginal dropping of standards and, as against Hibs in midweek, Rangers were a long way off the pace here.
No real damage has been caused by taking just one point from those two games but, starting at Livingston tomorrow, Warburton will be anxious to see that the mini-break is in the past.
Facing an Alloa side who began the day 60 points worse off than them, Rangers still seemed to have their minds back at Hampden.
Tavernier’s routine throw-in to Andy Halliday inside eight minutes saw the midfielder gift Michael Duffy possession with a wayward back-pass.
The on-loan Celtic striker dragged the ball across goal before finding the far corner from 18 yards.
Rangers created plenty of chances before Tavernier levelled but their lax finishing — not helped by a fine display from Wasps goalkeeper Scott Gallacher — made heavy weather of pegging back a side already relegated from the second tier.
Gedion Zelalem and Billy King each spurned two openings, Nicky Clark’s celebrations were cut short by the offside flag and Tavernier could only find the side-netting with a close-range strike.
Miss of the half belonged to the weary looking figure of Halliday, though, who failed to hit the target from the penalty spot after Kyle McAusland had clipped Barrie McKay’s ankles.
Credit to Halliday for immediately redeeming himself, however. His floated ball to the back post found Tavernier lurking in splendid isolation and one stretch of the neck later a 15th goal of the season was his on the cusp of half-time.
For all Rangers continued to press for a winner, the Alamo it was not. King had two further shots beaten away, while Zelalem displayed woeful technique in attempting to convert from 10 yards.
But the save of the day from Gallacher, to deny Ibrox sub Liam Burt a first goal from point-blank range, typified the doggedness of the men from Clackmannanshire.
There are, of course, much worse times to ship five points than after the league is wrapped up but, with just two competitive games to go until the Scottish Cup Final, it is imperative Warburton’s side reassert themselves quickly.
‘We were disappointed with the Hibs defeat — we conceded two sloppy goals, but we dominated the game and we knew we weren’t effective enough in the final third,’ added Tavernier.
‘Today, we gave another goal away, which gave them a platform to sit back and defend. You shoot yourself in the foot when you do something like that.
‘We need to learn not to give goals away and we must work harder in the final third.’
Rangers are not the first side to find the football match on party day does not always match its billing and they won’t be the last.
By the time the trophy was being paraded around the stadium, the 90 indifferent minutes that had gone before were a mere footnote on a job well done this season.
Winning the Scottish Cup and securing a return to Europe would elevate the campaign to another level but, even if that does not come to pass, no one can dispute that the early promise shown under Warburton has been realised.
‘I got a great impression when we played Burnley in our first game and then Hibs (in the Petrofac Training Cup) was our first proper game,’ Tavernier recalled.
‘Scoring in that game was a great platform to start off and the boys have been terrific, and they’ve all helped me.
‘It’s just been a fantastic season. The boss and the backroom staff deserve massive credit. The manager gives you the confidence and the boys enjoy the football we play. It’s just been a great season so far.
‘I got in the shower this morning thinking how quickly the season has gone.
‘It has gone so quickly and it was disappointing to get that result today, but to pick up the trophy and walk around with the kids and see all the family there was terrific. You’ve got to soak it up.’
Five years since last treading the