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James Tavernier sees Rangers mate show his true colours with powerful vote of confidence to under-fire skipper
He may have lost his starting spot but Cyriel Dessers insists James Tavernier certainly hasn’t lost the trust and respect of his team-mates.
The Rangers skipper was benched for Thursday night’s Europa League draw with Olympiacos in Athens - the first time in nine-and-a-half years that he’s been stood down for a major clash. Boss Philippe Clement tried to play the decision down after the goalless stalemate with the Greek giants, insisting he hadn’t dropped the right-back but merely rested him.
But it does feel very much like we’re approaching the end game for the Englishman. He was also left out of the starting XI against St Mirren last month and subbed off against Lyon and Motherwell, something that previously happened only in the rarest of circumstances. Against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, it was a Tavernier mistake that allowed Jimmy Thelin’s rampant Reds to grab the winner that has left Gers nine points adrift in the title race.
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At 33, it’s hardly a surprise that Tavernier’s legs are starting to slow. Expecting him to continue churning out 60 games a season is a bit like hoping for Donald Trump to develop a modest streak. But it’s the captain’s humble nature which means he will continue to have the backing of those he shares a dressing room with. That trait was on full show at the Karaiskakis Stadium.
He may have been left disappointed by the fact he was forced to take a seat as his team-mates kicked-off against Jose Luis Mendilibar’s Conference League champions but he didn’t let it show as instead upon being the man who led Gers out for their warm-up.
Frontman Dessers said: “He’s our skipper. For me that's nothing special. I think that's normal. He's our captain. He's our leader.
“He will always lead the team out. That's how it is in our dressing room. He leads by example all the time. That's it.
“Obviously, James is an amazing player. The things he did already for this club are unbelievable.
“Also in these things you can see he's not only an amazing player, he's also an amazing human being. He's a great leader. He has a big role in our dressing room as well. I'm not surprised by that. I don't understand the criticism he gets.
“If I just look at his stats as a right full-back, 400 games for this club, he won the league, he won cups. The things he did already here, all the years that he's been here, his goals, his assists, that says it all for him.
“He keeps going every day in training. He's there, he's working hard every day in the gym. I think that speaks for him.
“I think we have to be, not just us as players, but also the staff, I think also the fans. We need to be very happy to have James Tavernier in our club.”
By full-time in Greece, the Rangers faithful were happy to have Dessers in their side. They may not have been quite so chuffed with the Nigerian at the interval, though.
Clean through on keeper Konstantinos Tzolakis 11 minutes in, he could only fire a weak effort straight at the Olympiacos No1. Moments later he was presented with another golden chance but was foiled as Tzolakis threw out a leg to turn his shot away. At this level, spurning massive opportunities like that is always a risky business but Dessers finally came good after the break as he cancelled out Ayoub El Kaaba’s opener.
And the 29-year-old led the case for his own defence for those first-half misses as he said: “I think I had a good first half. Obviously, you want to score the chances.
“I think with the first one I could have finished it better. But I had two or three sprints just before that.
“When I arrived at the box I was a little bit out of breath. So you miss the real freshness to finish it well.
“I think the second one is the only thing I could do. I think he saves it well. I went in at half-time with a good feeling, actually because I think I was playing well.
“I was giving them difficulties. The plan we had before the game, we executed well. I played my role in that. I just knew the next chance had to be a goal and that’s what happened.”
The dismal defeat to the Dons was the lowest point of a difficult season. But Clement’s men have responded to that with victory over Well teeing up a shot at the season’s first trophy next when they face Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup final.
And the draw in Greece means three more points from their final four Europa League dates should see Rangers through to the knock-outs. “Hopefully, we’re building momentum again,” said Dessers. “It was a difficult week last week. I said it after Aberdeen, at this club you always need to bounce back.
“There's always a next big game three days after. If you win or lose, you always need to be there again.
“I think that's what we showed in the last two games. Hopefully we can build on that again for Sunday against Hearts. Then we can go, hopefully with a little bit more positive feeling into the international break.”
The Jambos visit Ibrox on Sunday. But in Europe, Gers have some tough encounters to come, with trips to Ligue 1 high-flyers Nice and Manchester United either side of Ange Postecoglou’s return to Ibrox next month with Tottenham.
Getting anything from that trio of tricky tests might be a stretch despite Clement’s claim that 'miracles are possible'. But the Light Blues should certainly feel confident about completing the job when they welcome Union Saint Gilloise to Glasgow for their campaign closer at the end of January.
Dessers said: “We’re close. That, in combination with the performance against Olympiacos, should give us confidence.
“We've got some big games, difficult fixtures coming up. But like we showed in Athens, I think we can give every team difficulties and we will always have chances to score. Hopefully we can show that as well in the next games.”
