James Tavernier may be (finally) finished at Rangers | OneFootball

In the past 5 weeks, Rangers captain James Tavernier has been subbed off or dropped to the bench for tactical reasons more times than at any point as Rangers’ RB, with the exception of the brief competition he had from Lee Hodson and Nathan Patterson.

Indeed, taken off v Lyon, dropped v St Mirren, and removed v Motherwell, his bench place in Greece in favour of Dujon Sterling was a big statement to the captain again – he is no longer indispensable and he’s aware that if he’s not scoring his goals, he’s slightly redundant.

Rangers have two capable RBs in Sterling and Kasanwirjo, and while Ibrox Noise would much prefer to see Sterling in midfield, it’s clear that the manager has picked Nico Raskin and Connor Barron as his chosen pairing.

Which means Sterling, who is not completely match fit yet, is going to be sticking at RB whether he (or the fans) like it or not.

But more to the point it confirms, without too much doubt now, that Tavernier is completely droppable and has lost his untouchable status – he’s been benched several times, and he’s been taken off a few as well.

It points to a big sea-change, as the aging 33-year-old finally succumbs to time and age and finds himself slipping down Rangers’ pecking order, with Clement now picking young models more frequently.

For Rangers fans, while the feeling of the captain being benched more often is something of a relief, it’s also a surreal state of affairs.

He’s been completely untouchable for years, only Patterson getting his foot in the door at any point, and while fans called for Tav to be dropped, at no point did any of them trust this manager to do so.

But he has now, Tavernier is being used less and less and it may finally be the end of the Tavernier era at Rangers.

Is he finished?

Well, if he’s not scoring the goals that (tried to) mask his poor defending, then he’s not offering a lot – 3 assists and a goal in 19 appearances this season is massively down on his usual haul, and if he’s not getting the attack stats to compensate for the haphazard work at the back then he’s not indispensable any more.

And yet the irony? He’s fourth in Sofascore for season rating, behind only 3 Celtic players. Statistically, data-wise, he’s the fourth-best player in the league.

Yes, we don’t really know how he’s managed that either.

But either way, he’s no longer a guaranteed starter for Rangers.