Keith Jackson has performed an incredible hatchet job on Tav describing the glorious Ibrox skipper as the wrong man in the wrong place with his eyes on a lucrativ move to Saudi Arabia.
In recent weeks the digital team of the Daily Record have been cranking up the adulation for the former Wigan Athletic utility man but it seems that a real fitbaw man, reporter Jackson has had enough of Captain Disappointed after the 3-2 defeat at Ross County.
Worse than his 98 minute nightmare yesterday Jackson hints strongly that Tav’s head is elsewhere with a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League on the table.
Since Steven Gerrard gave up on management to take charge of El Ettifaq there has been rumours that he is set to raid Ibrox, last summer the Record even ran with a multi-million pound bid for Scott Wright.
Alfredo Morelos and Borna Barisic were tipped to join Gerrard at Aston Villa but only Micky Beale and Gary McAllister moved to Birmingham but that gig lasted less than a year before Unai Emery came to the rescue.
Last Sunday Daizen Maeda left Tav in a crumpled heap after 98 minutes of torture, the Celtic forward simply exploited the space left behind as the glory hunting defender chased another scoring record and a glowing review in the Daily Record.
Ross County boss Don Cowie repeated that tactic yesterday as he channelled his side’s attacks down the left wing, leaving Tav a broken man as he faced the wrath of the travelling bears after the final whistle.
Jackson was in no mood to sympathise with the world’s highest scoring defender, reflecting on the Dingwall disaster he told Daily Record readers:
Captain James Tavernier pulled one back from the spot late in the day with a trademark perfectly executed penalty kick but that was just about his only positive contribution over the course of 98 error strewn minutes and even when it hit the back of the net. Tavernier didn’t look even remotely like a man who truly believed he was about to dig his team out of a hole.
On the contrary, his body language was as unconvincing as his overall performance and it is starting to feel as if Tavernier’s attention might be drifting some place else just when his team needs him to be fully focussed and leading from the front.
Rumours linking the 32-year-old Englishman with a big money move to the Middle East have never fully gone away since surfacing last summer and if Tavernier already has one eye on cashing it all in in Saudi Arabia – or anywhere else for that matter – then he’s the wrong man in the wrong place right now that the entire season is on the line.
His nine years at Ibrox have been punctuated by all manner of huge personal achievements and Sunday’s goal was another of these massive milestones – his 125th in a Rangers shirt which is a quite astounding return for a right back.
However, his medal collection remains paltry by comparison given the amount of time he has spent wearing the armband. Tavernier has lifted just one Premiership title, one Scottish Cup and one League Cup during six years of his captaincy and perhaps he is satisfied with completing the collection.
But these are not the kind of figures which reflect well on a Rangers skipper and, crucially, when his team needed some kind of spark, all Tavernier could muster was a string of misplaced passes and a succession of poorly delivered corner kicks.
Of course, it’s way too simple to pin it all on just one man and especially when so many of Tavernier’s team mates were found wanting or, in some cases, completely missing in action in Dingwall.
Now and then the Record has tried to peddle the claim that English clubs have shown interest in Tav but it has been half hearted at best, even the Record know the limitations of the Ibrox skipper.
No other club in world football is guaranteed a penalty every second game, it is currently at six in the last seven SPFL matches, which would leave the buyer with 32-year-old Tav the defender.
Jack Hendry and Fashio Sakala have managed to get deals from the Saudi Pro League, if Tav’s agent can conjure up one for Captain Disappointed he deserves at least 50% of the salary as commission.
CLICK HERE for the rumours about Crawford Allan.
— Tam sellic son (@TamseIIicsonIII) April 14, 2024
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and the Bears turning on #CaptainShitebag. Beautiful 👌
Thank you @CelticEnded2iar 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/zJpx47ZdDh
— T H E ~ S H A M R O C K ☘️ (@TheShamrock1888) April 14, 2024
