Tavernier looking to build on progress
JAMES TAVERNIER believes Rangers can break new ground this season — and continue the huge transformation of their Europa League fortunes under Steven Gerrard’s management.
The Ibrox boss will tonight take charge of his 50th match in continental competition when Lyon visit Glasgow for the Group A opener.
Rangers are embarking on a fourth successive Europa League campaign with Gerrard and have reached the last 16 in each of the previous two seasons.
That consistent exposure to top-level action is in stark contrast to Tavernier’s first European experience when Pedro Caixinha’s side suffered one of the worst results in the club’s history by losing to Progres Niederkorn in 2017.
‘The transition has been overwhelming since the gaffer came in,’ said the Rangers captain. ‘There was obviously progress, a tiny bit, before he came in. But since the gaffer’s come in, he’s transformed the place inside out.
‘We’ve had previous seasons in the Europa and teams have come out and said we were really hard to play against.
‘We want to continue that and improve on that — and be a really hard team to play against and a force to be reckoned with.
‘The only way we can do that is to push ourselves every single day on the training pitch and domestically as well, keeping that momentum going and keeping winning games.’
Asked if Rangers could now go further by reaching at least the quarter-finals, Tavernier added: ‘It is definitely realistic and we need to set targets. We always want to better ourselves from what we do in previous seasons and we want to do better this season than we have done previously.
‘It is going to be a tough game (against Lyon) but we look forward to these occasions and it brings the best out in us. Our plan is to try and get out the group stage and beat our record and go further in the Europa.’
Rangers have yet to lose a home Europa League group stage fixture during Gerrard’s tenure, winning five and drawing four of their previous nine.
‘We want to make Ibrox a fortress,’ said Tavernier. ‘We don’t want teams to take points away from us. We will try and get the maximum points in every single game. Our record speaks for itself and we want to have that so teams know it is going to be a tough place to come.
‘With the fans right behind us, especially this season, hopefully we can get the points we need to start the group stage in a good way.’
Even without ex-Celtic striker Moussa Dembele, Lyon’s array of talent represents a very stern test of that unbeaten run.
‘They have other players in their squad that we know bring quality to their team,’ admitted Tavernier. ‘We are just looking to playing against their full XI.
‘We are going to be fully focused on who we have to mark and who we have to play against.
‘You always want to compete against the best and show how good you are on that stage. It brings out the best in us and to have a game at home, with the fans at a full Ibrox that will be rocking, these are the games you can’t wait to play.’