JAMES Tavernier has declared himself ready to take any criticism which is aimed in his direction following the Premier Sports Cup final defeat to Celtic and work on the improvements Rangers need to make to land silverware.
Ibrox skipper Tavernier performed well in the match against the Parkhead club at Hampden on Sunday and put himself forward to take the first penalty in the shootout, which he duly converted, after the two teams had finished level at 3-3 at the end of extra-time.
However, the Englishman, who was targeted for sickening personal abuse after his side’s 3-0 Old Firm defeat in the East End at the start of September, still knows that he will bear the brunt of the fans’ frustrations.
The right-back, though, is only concerned with helping Philippe Clement’s men, who came from behind twice against Brendan Rodgers’ charges to take it to spot kicks, continue their progress.
He is determined to help Rangers perform better both up front and at the back – starting in the William Hill Premiership encounter with Dundee in Govan on Saturday.
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“We are in the front line, the manager and myself,” he said. “Being in those positions at a huge club like Rangers means you’re obviously going to take the heat.
“But I’m more than prepared to take it. I have to galvanise the lads as we go again this weekend. But I’ve always been ready to lead.”
Tavernier has been left out of the Rangers starting line-up at times this term – but he has felt the benefit of being rested by Clement and is feeling positive about the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign despite the weekend disappointment.
“There’s been small tweaks over the past few weeks which have helped my game play,” he said. “So I will continue to keep pushing myself.
“The manager decided who took the penalties. But I’m obviously captain and will take the first penalty and any penalty that’s asked of us.
“I’m proud of everyone who stepped up and was man enough to do that. These games are fine margins and it obviously hurts when. You lose a penalty shootout. I’m just proud of the lads who went up took one.”
The 33-year-old defender is also proud of the strides forward which Rangers, who brought in no fewer than nine new players during the summer, have made both at home and abroad in recent weeks.
He is hopeful they can learn invaluable lessons from their agonising League Cup final loss against their city rivals and launch a strong challenge for the Premiership and Scottish Cup.
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“There’s a lot to learn from the game on Sunday,” he said. “We put ourselves back in a good position, we kept on working hard towards the end and then the game’s a flip of a coin when it comes down to penalties.
“The aim was to win a trophy and we’ve not done that. But we will look back on this and find small improvements in different places. For example, in the second half we had to be more clinical.
“There was a four vs one chance in the second half and we didn’t take advantage of it. They’re the fine margins in big games like this. You have to take the chances when they come.”
Tavernier added: “We’ve been doing really well over the past few weeks and especially defensively as a team. That’s why the manner of a couple of goals will be disappointing. We probably gave them away too cheaply.
“We will look at stuff like that. The other aspect is being a little more clinical. There’s a lot of positives to take out of it. At the end of the day we didn’t win so we’ve got to think about.
“Sunday was decided on a penalty shootout. We’re getting better and stronger as a team compared to the first Old Firm game this season. We are improving as a team, especially considering how young it is and we just have to continue working hard.”
