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I'm curious what people think the captaincy entails. Do people think he should be changing formations on the pitch during games? Over-ruling the management team on tactics and selections perhaps? Maybe telling the board to sell certain players and who to buy? The expectation some seem to have regarding what the captain does is very strange. The captain is the bridge between the dressing room and the manager, he's who helps new players settle into the squad, who lets's the manager know if someone has an issue, perhaps unconnected to football, who makes sure the various media duties the squad need to do are covered. He's the guy who swaps pennants and calls the coin toss, he'll give an encouraging word or a harsh one to a teammate when appropriate. This suggestion that he's responsible for our ills is ludicrous. At the age of 30 Wes Morgan captained Leicester City to the league title, it was the first honour he'd won in football. Some captains never win anything in their entire career, that doesn't make them bad captains. It's a team game, teams win and lose, not individuals.

Tav as a captain is subjective. We don't see a lot of what he does. He captained us to 55 and a lot of memorable euro runs, including a final. It's difficult to assess given the lack of quality in the team at certain times. As a player, overall, he's been really good. He's scored a lot of important goals and was integral to 55 and reaching Seville. Our style of play required an attacking full back and arguably we would have performed a lot worse as a team with someone who didn't have his attacking qualities and better defensive ability. There were quite a few seasons where he was the only one in the team driving us forward on the 80th minute, for example. There have been defensive lapses at times but he's not a £50 million player, and it's to be expected that he's not going to be perfect. He's slowed up now and doesn't offer what he did 3 years ago and I'd hope we get another full back in. I can understand people criticising his performances at times or wanting another player in when he's poor, but I do find the Tav hate a bit tiresome.

To blame Tav for all the ills the team has suffered is to ignore the turbulence the club went through in 2012 and since. We lost most of our decent players and have been playing catchup since. It is ignoring the poor quality of many of our signings, the lack of funds, the spivs draining money out of the club, flip flopping on sporting director model, giving the money to Beale etc etc. One of the constants throughout most of that has been Tav and I doubt he will have what it takes to play every game and if that is the case he won't. I believe we owe him our gratitude and respect.

I'm far from a fanboi, but Tav has been a fantastic buy for our club, Anyone who doesn't think so is clearly quite delusional.

Martin was hardly going to come out and let the world know, after one day in the job, that Tav would be dropped as Captain and sold. Maybe Martin was showing a bit of respect to Tavernier who has played about 350 times for us.

I suppose a strong attribute to Captaincy is when JT gave Dessers the chance to score his 50th league goal against Dundee I believe it was, Not only did this help prioritise the teams moral and that of Dessers it showed the example of leading through support and encouragement of his teammates and fostering a bond in that the captain only wants to see one thing and that is a collective effort by all , I suppose it could be seen as helping Dessers contribute to more goals this seasons, who knows but that’s what I take as being a good Captain material is all about. Sure at Times JT has had to take the flak when the team wasn’t performing and I suppose we sometimes put his performance under the microscope but compared to the other performances he has executed it 8/10. I think his time is coming to an end but we should also thank him for what he has done. As Connor Goldson once said Rangers fans won’t appreciate him until he has gone.

You can’t win them on your own. Even Greig couldn’t. Tavernier is a below average defender with an astonishingly good attacking flair and an ability to score goals from open play as well as by competently taken penalties and brilliantly struck freekicks. Rangers have had their money’s worth out of him. I would still have preferred an above average defender. He’s not a good captain. He maybe only got the job for lack of anyone better. Goldson wouldn’t have been great at it either and I can’t think of anyone else.

Spoken like somebody who has never watched a single match.

No amount of justification can explain why John Greig wasn't a 'serial loser' during Celtics originally 9-in-a-row, yet Tav is. It doesn't matter if we were 1 point or 101 points behind we lost the league. So either both are serial losers, or neither are. The reality is, not 1 single player can be held fully responsible for years of losing titles, be it Tav or John Greig.

So, he gets asked that question, and goes the opposite way, 'Aye, Tavs legs are gone, I'll be hunting him'. You've alienated an unknown proportion of your dressing room, before you've even met them. Martin will pick his players, not out of sentiment. If he does, it's his job on the line. Stop analysing every wee word, words don't matter performances and results do.

He's already here: our own little Napoleon, Nico Raskin.

Of course he has. Not necessarily in a formal setting but the SD might say he’s trying to get a right back from Juventus only Scottish weather is a stumbling block to which the HC might respond by saying he saw a cracking player at Weymouth United last season, only 36 and recovering well from a fourth knee operation with an auntie in Coatbridge, at which the SD worries no more about the Italian. Mibbees.

Anyway, can't wait to be linked with Grant Hanley 😀😀😀

It's a mix, and guess what, he's part of it. Loser mentality dripping right out of him.

So now he's a symbol of a failed era, not the cause? Was John Greig a symbol of a failed era? Good job we never got shot of JG eh.....

Thank fuck.

Van Dijk is a year older the Coady, would you take him?

Maybe, just maybe, it's not successive managers, countless teammates, opposition players and managers that are clueless about Tav...........

A new seasons not far away we’ve got new owners a new manager and god knows how many people we have in new jobs with fancy titles but first and foremost we need a new captain not just someone who calls heads or tails before kick off but a leader on the park a man who the others look up to someone who will challenge the referee when one of these dodgy decisions goes against us and someone who can inspire his teammates and if necessary change the tactics during the game old Tavs done he’s had his day so would you sign someone who is captain material or promote from what is a very small field

I think we should all start calling it ParrotTech instead of AI.

Dear AI, those other players also played alongside far superior players compared to those Tavernier played with.

Haha - so you posted something to somehow attempt to downplay Tav's goalscoring record but it included a part that said he was a phenomenal goal-scoring right back. Well done 👏

I gave ChatGPT that list and said who do you think had the easiest time scoring goals from RB. From the list of the 10 highest-scoring defenders in football history, James Tavernier likely had the easiest time scoring goals from the right-back (RB) position. Why James Tavernier? Primarily Tavernier has taken all penalties and set pieces for Rangers FC, as well as actually consistently playing the position of RB over others on this list. For example, Ronald Koeman (Barcelona) played large portions of his career at right-midfield (RM) as well as others like Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid) who played several times throughout his career at right-mid, and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) who scored a lot of his goals from centre-back (CB). The level of competition throughout a changing football landscape should also be considered: Level of Competition Faced: Players like Koeman, Ramos, Hierro, Blanc, Roberto Carlos, and Breitner played in La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 widely considered among the most competitive leagues in the world, both historically and presently. These leagues regularly feature elite attackers, tactically sophisticated teams, and high-pressure matches. European & International Competitions: Most of these defenders consistently played Champions League, World Cups, and continental tournaments (Euro, Copa América), facing top-tier opposition. James Tavernier’s Environment: Scottish Premiership: Tavernier plays for Rangers FC, a dominant club in the Scottish Premiership, which is not on par with the top 5 European leagues in terms of defensive organization, pace, or overall talent. Rangers often dominate possession in domestic matches, giving Tavernier many chances to push forward. Role and Freedom: At Rangers, Tavernier has a very attacking-oriented role, with lots of license to bomb forward, take penalties, and be involved in set pieces—opportunities that would be far more limited in elite European teams. Final Assessment: James Tavernier is a phenomenal goal-scoring right-back, but his statistics have been boosted by playing in a less competitive league where his team dominates most matches. In contrast, other defenders on this list scored in tougher environments, often against higher-quality opposition. That doesn't diminish Tavernier’s achievement it just adds important context.

* 15 goals in 1 Championship season

Turgeman was linked before I opened this thread on May 14th. I would assume that at that moment, Martin was not yet involved in anything. He might - and will surely - have a word to say on certain deals now, and given previous interest, it is only natural that he wants Turgeman now too. Just MHO.

Young Raskin without a doubt! Sure he has much to learn but to be given the captaincy last season shows his leadership ability. Yet Tav should be still able to show him the ropes this season prior to him leaving if he decides to do so.

Strong mindset is a key part of leadership. The ability to exude confidence and lift everyone around you, you're not getting that from the guy that admits he can't handle pressure well. That mentality rubs off, if your captain/leader/boss is shitting themselves when the pressure is on, why would you be confident? This notion that a captain can't do much is a cop out and excuse for a poor captain.

This is Rangers if the past is anything to go by they couldn't arrange flowers

All over the place.

Correct. Collective responsibility. Doesn’t rule out assessments of individuals though.

I mentioned Van Dijk again as it appears some fans think we will have to sign "superstars" and if we don't, we're signing "pish". We aren't in a position, even after the takeover to be spending big in the transfer market. We will be signing experienced players the RM knows and thinks will fit his system, then we'll gamble of young players hoping they will develop and be sold on - its how a transfer model has to work. If you can't get your head around that, you are going to be stressed out every transfer window for a while.

There are competitive failures (their niar) and there are catastrophic failures (recent times)

Wouldn't say he's "overly slow". His passing, reading of the game amd physicality would suggest he's upgrade to what we currently have. That's all we can hope for; that any new signings are better than the players we currently have.

I think Coady could be an interesting signing playing in the centre of a back-three, which RM plays often: experienced, physical, and can pass (started as a midfielder at Liverpool). He's definitely slow, though.

Aribo and Bassey, were much much younger. I will give you defoe, kudos 1 from about 10 of the older ones

Nothing to do with age. The guys legs have gone

This is effectively my point. Tavernier didn't collectively add anything to Rangers, anything celebrated about him is personal accolades. I.e how many goals he scored as a defender. He is symbolic of a failed era. I'd trade all his personal accolades for a Rangers team that won trophies, that's just my opinion.

We will be entering a walking football league with some of these names

Coady would be a big upgrade if he is fully fit.

I think the idea that Martin has come out and backed Tavernier is pure projection. From what I can see, the whole quote is more diplomatic: “Then how much he gets used on the pitch will be down to Tav and how he trains and how he plays, the same as every player. But he's going to be hugely important in the culture. I know what he's like as a person behind the scenes and he's fantastic." “How much he plays on the pitch, I can't sit here and tell you he's going to play 50 games, 20 games, whatever. It will be down to him in the way he performs and the way he buys into it, which I'm pretty sure he will." 'When asked if he would be comfortable with Tavernier as captain of a Russell Martin Rangers team, the coach added: “If he's playing. He's been the captain for a very long time. I don't see any reason to change that. And if he's not playing, it will force someone else [to be captain].”'

https://www.change.org/p/provide-free-public-transport-for-uk-armed-forces-veterans?recruiter=1359318320&recruited_by_id=abab82b0-b295-11ef-a4a5-b30e3443ea42&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_medium=native

It's amazing that 1 player takes the blame for successive failures. Flip it around, is Tav singularly responsibile for winning 55 and getting us to the EL Final?

I think it's rather simplistic to put all our troubles onto Tavernier. I think it's more symbolic than anything literal. He has flaws but I still think the positives outweigh them, for now. He'll stick around, he'll remain captain - I think stripping him would create more issues - but he won't necessarily play every game.

Vulcan persuasion with those ears...

No...let's worry about his accent and baldy heed.

Agreed and Tav would be a very good back-up for right back, or even back up CB depending on the opposition - as he showed in the EL last season.