Tavernier hits milestone but it is no day for celebrations
JAMES TAVERNIER has conducted plenty of soul-destroying Old Firm debriefs in his time as Rangers skipper.
As he discussed this latest defeat to Celtic there was an underlying theme of encouragement — and not just on account of the personal milestone that saw him hit his 100th goal for the club.
Scorer of a sublime equalising free-kick just before half-time and a header that breathed life into Rangers’ chances after Celtic had gone 3-1 in front, Tavernier played a captain’s part at Parkhead to hit his own personal milestone in front of an entirely partisan crowd.
‘It was a different experience,’ he reflected. ‘But I am leaving this place with nothing, so it is hard to take at the minute. I am still raw.
‘Later down the line I will look back and I will be proud of scoring 100 goals. But just now it is hard to take.’
While Tavernier was reluctant to blow his own trumpet, his manager was happy to throw a few plaudits the full-back’s way.
Weakened by the loss of Connor Goldson to a hip injury on the eve of the match, Michael Beale leaned even more heavily on his captain and was proud of what he got in return.
‘To score 100 goals as a full-back is a fantastic achievement,’ said Beale. ‘He won’t be thinking about that now but when the dust settles he should get the accolades. It is outstanding.
‘And it is not just the goals, it’s the assists, too. Let’s not forget it is a tough thing wearing the armband for one of these two clubs.
‘Certainly when everything is not going in your favour. And to score 100 goals for Rangers is a fantastic personal achievement.
‘The free-kick was fantastic and is something that he practices. At the second he got in at the far post to connect with a really good ball from Borna (Barisic). The two full-backs give us so much going forward but I thought they both defended very well today, too.’
Tavernier was far from a one-man pillar of resistance. Rangers may have been edged out by their still superior rivals but they were not outfought in a fiery encounter.
So often the man sent out to offer an explanation after a deflating result, Tavernier was dejected but not completely downhearted as he dissected the fall-out.
With Rangers well adrift in the title race even before they kicked off yesterday’s match, it could have been argued that the Scottish Cup semi-final between these teams at the end of this month was already a more important game.
Now it is literally the only show in town.
‘We’ll take encouragement from this definitely. Obviously it’s frustrating because I felt that for parts of the game we controlled the ball really well,’ continued Tavernier, before turning to Alfredo Morelos’ goal being disallowed for a foul on Alistair Johnston.
‘We went in at half-time at 1-1 but I thought the game could have changed when Alfredo scored. I didn’t think it was a foul. I have seen back their second goal and it comes off Jota’s hand.
‘It is down to the officials at the end of the day. With that first goal, I thought he could have had a look at the screen for himself. In their second goal nothing gets looked at.
‘There is obviously room for improvement there but we as a team have got to do enough to get it over the line ourselves.
‘If decisions are not going our way we have still got to do everything possible to try and win or get something out of the game.’
Although Celtic’s two second-half goals were both gifted by defensive mistakes from first Ben Davies then John Souttar, Tavernier argued that failings at the other end had been just as destructive.
‘Souttar came in for us at the last minute and I thought he had a terrific game,’ added Tavernier.
‘We’ve made a couple of mistakes, but even at 3-2 we had a couple of chances. It is just the fine margins in that final third.
‘I thought the shape we had today worked really well. Coming in at half-time at 1-1, we wanted to go again, which we did. It was just the goals that hurt us.’