The fall out from the league cup defeat continues and everyone is a target.
Michael Beale took the bulk of the criticism for his tactics and team selection, however, Ross Wilson – as per any defeat or bad result – is having his tenure scrutinised again too but, after yet another trophy that has not came back to Ibrox, long-term skipper James Tavernier has the knives out for him from an unlikely source.
Rangers media coverage has changed in recent seasons with commercial partner fan outlets like Four Lads Had a Dream and Heart and Hand having an increasing presence in pre and post match press conferences and it has been the former in particular that has been vocal in his criticism of Tavernier.
Taking to Twitter, Stevie Clifford – who is also a regular contributor to mainstream media site The Rangers Review – has pulled no punches and has had enough of what he sees as mediocrity being accepted.
Sands is an easy departure
He has to be the first of many. Sunday should be a watershed moment for many of these guys who know nothing but failure
That includes Kamara, Lundstram, Tavernier & several other big hitters who have been dross for months
Time for a complete rebuild
— Four Lads Had A Dream (@4ladshadadream) March 1, 2023
I’ll further add
I’ve tried to be positive, I’ve tried to talk players up and have the blog do articles, IVs etc which are positive. That’s on me
Sunday was a massive let down. It’s the last
People are welcome to their own opinions, I want a squad revamp & change throughout
— Four Lads Had A Dream (@4ladshadadream) March 1, 2023
The standards people will accept are laughable
I watched him pass it straight into Celtic midfield for their second & again fail to stop a cross for 1st
But he had a good game according to some
Why strip him of captaincy if my take on Tavernier is so awful?
— Four Lads Had A Dream (@4ladshadadream) March 1, 2023
Personally, I think he has been harsh in his criticism of Tavernier on Sunday, for the first goal the skipper had to go towards the ball because the midfield had been caught out of position, there was no way that he could have recovered to block the cross.
As for the second, yes, he gave the ball away but he didn’t get any help from his team-mates once the mistake was made. To single him out as responsible for both of the goals is excessive.
Tavernier will always be an easy target given how long he has been at the club and the number of trophies he has won since he joined, however, it’s a team game and are we really saying that a player with over 200 goal contributions in less than 400 games from right-back isn’t good enough?
I agree, overly harsh on Tavernier. I note that all these people calling for x,y & z to leave the club offer no insight into who they think should replace these people. It’s as if you automatically get a great player in their place! Very easy to fire those sort of shots. Keyboard warriors the lot of them!
Agree. The main issue was the lack of legs/fitness in midfield, who failed to close down their Celtic counterparts and provide the necessary defensive cover. Should have gone with a solid three from the start (e.g. Jack, Raskin & Kamara) and changed as necessary as the game developed. Would personally have played Tillman as CF/False Nine in place of Morelos, given his lack of defensive/positional awareness. To play him in midfield alongside an equally-unfit Lundstram was optimistic to say the least, and suggests the manager hadn’t reviewed the recent 3-0 & 4-0 Parkhead pastings.
I thought Tavernier was Rangers best player on Sunday , he was always looking for the ball and trying to get us forward , in fact long balls to him on the right touchline seemed to be our only tactic .He was the only one who was up for the fight .The first goal came from a cross by Taylor who should have been closed down by Tillman or Sakala not Tavernier who was covering Maeda .I also don`t understand the “why strip him of the captaincy remark ?” What does that even mean? It is time for some changes but we can`t change the whole squad and there are lots of non achievers that need to go before Tav, Goldson , Lundstram etc. Get rid of the ones who never contribute to improve quality of squad .