James Tavernier was blasted by Alasdair Lamont after a poor pass to Jack Butland in their 3-0 win over Dundee at Ibrox on Saturday.

Tavernier had one of his best games of the season against Dundee and even managed to bag his first goal of the campaign.

However, as has been the case with most of his outings this term, he made the odd mistake here and there with one almost leading to a goal.

Speaking live on BBC Sportsound, (21 September, 7:06 pm), the BBC Scotland broadcaster questioned what the Rangers captain was trying to achieve with his pass.

“What was James Tavernier thinking?” Lamont said.

“He couldn’t have looked at all as he played the ball back and Tiffoney must have thought he was about to reduce the arrears.”

Rangers need to extend their winning run

The 2024/25 summer transfer window was certainly an interesting one for Rangers. The club offloaded many of their old stars who were on high wages and swapped them out for younger models such as Connor Barron and Jefte.

While the aforementioned pair have settled into the squad quite well, others are yet to do the same.

Tavernier’s future was also one of the biggest stories that hung over Ibrox during the window.

The Englishman was being targeted by a whole host of clubs [HITC, 6 September] even while England’s transfer deadline had already passed.

There were even murmurs of Cyrus Christie being linked with a move to Ibrox [HITC, 7 September] as a potential replacement for the Gers captain.

While the club haven’t had the best of starts, they might now be able to extend their run of form and their winning streak to help bolster their chances of dethroning Celtic by the end of the term.

Clement attempts to respond to enquiries posed by King and the board – 4 Lads

A victory over Dundee United at Tannadice was not just welcome, it was a necessity. We actually got a decent enough performance in the first 30 minutes and Rangers did enough to win the game. It’s just a shame we didn’t get more goals.

Jefte and Oscar Cortes impressed me. They looked dangerous and Jefte continues to do a little bit more every time he plays. I have been quietly impressed with his running power and he seems to just clear it when the time is right. He doesn’t overplay it and I like that. I don’t like the amount of cautions he’s getting so I hope he’s not becoming a target for officials.

Cortes will need time but he has ability. I think he will be a good addition for us but he’s at least a month away from being in full flow. When you think about it, in Mohamed Diomande, Connor Barron, Jefte, Cortes and Igamane, Rangers have now got a promising batch of young players. Barron was once again impressive at Tannadice and makes a habit of winning the midfield battles.

But again, there will be bigger challenges for this group. They will need to perform consistently time and time again and they will all need to improve along the way. That is not meant to be critical, but an acknowledgement that this is a promising squad and that continued progression is needed.

But in that group it would be wrong not to mention Igamane. He looked every bit the raw, exciting livewire we want him to be. Strong, good touch, holding up the ball, he looks a real handful. But, again, there is a lot to show us before we can declare him to be the new hope. Back in 2017 a young Columbian arrived and stole our hearts and this support are ready to love again. Hopefully, we see more of Hamza on Saturday as Dundee come to Ibrox and Rangers look to progress in the cup.

Off the field, John Bennett stood down from his position as chairman on Saturday. I would like to go on record to wish him all the best in his health recovery. I’m grateful to Bennett, the Parks, Dave King and every investor who has steered Rangers since wrestling the club back in 2015, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have questions for every one of them who has taken us to this position that we are in now.

King’s statements this week and his wish to come back as chairman gave me mixed emotions. The stuff he said rings true and part of you wants to go ‘Give him it, let him sort it out’. But the other part of me wants to ask so many questions surrounding the decisions King made and how he left.

That doesn’t make me anti-King, or even anti-board. I also think, though, it’s fair to say that there have been so many instances that caused the support to question the many decisions that have put the club in a difficult position. What I don’t want is a King versus Park war in public. This club urgently needs stability and to make the right key appointments off the field to give us leadership.

Those in charge, need to ‘Park’ their egos and do the best for the club so that the fans can get behind this team and manager and focus their energy on winning matches. It’s important we get these key decisions right.

We had more positive news commercially in recent days. Elior have returned in a record deal and now another record deal for front-of-shirt sponsorship with the Kindred Group. These are the moments and bits of news we want to champion. We don’t want to be worrying about statements, words like ‘crisis’ on national radio and what is going to go wrong next.

I want to worry about when Igamane is going to start and when will Cortes get fully fit. That’s our job as supporters, not struggles off the field. Those in charge need to sort that sooner rather than later.

The Rangers bust was traded six months after being heralded as a “better striker” than Morelos.

Glasgow Rangers hit the jackpot when they brought Alfredo Morelos to Ibrox in the summer of 2017.

The Rangers striker went on to rack up an impressive 124 goals and 57 assists in 269 appearances in all competitions for the Gers before his exit in 2023.

They signed a host of other number nines over the years in an attempt to replace the Colombia international, who now plays for Nacional in his home country of Colombia, and they may have thought that they struck gold with the signing of Antonio Colak.

The Croatian marksman enjoyed a terrific start to life at Ibrox and was even described as a better centre-forward than Morelos, who was still at the club at the time.

Colak hailed as better than Morelos

In January 2023, Aberdeen captain Anthony Stewart claimed that Colak is a “better striker” than Morelos, based on his all-round game, having played against both of them in the Scottish Premiership.

The Light Blues had signed the Croatia international from PAOK for a reported fee of £1.8m the previous summer and he enjoyed a fantastic start to his career in Scotland.

By the time of Stewart’s comment, Colak had racked up 11 goals and three assists in 15 appearances in the Premiership and three goals in four Champions League qualifiers.

Whereas, Morelos did not score more than 12 goals in an entire Premiership campaign in any of his last four seasons with the club, which illustrates how impressive that first half of the season from the Croatian ace was.

Colak’s decline at Rangers

Unfortunately, that early-season form did not continue and the former PAOK man endured a frustrating second half of the campaign under Michael Beale.

After Stewart’s comments, Colak only made ten more appearances in the Premiership for the Hoops and scored three goals, two of which came in the same game against Hibernian, whilst failing to provide an assist.

Beale then decided to cash in on the 31-year-old centre-forward ahead of the 2023/24 campaign and Parma swooped in to agree a £2.5m fee with the club.

As you can see in the table above, Colak’s struggles in front of goal continued last season as he only managed three goals in 22 Serie B matches for Parma.

The Italian side then opted to cash in on him after one year, selling him to Spezia in the same league, and he has only played eight minutes so far this term.

These statistics suggest that Rangers were right to sell Colak after his second-half-of-the-season woes at Ibrox, as he is yet to recapture his goalscoring form over 12 months on from his departure.

It is a shame, however, that a player the club may have thought was going to be better than Morelos, after his sensational start to life with the Gers, ended up being sold six months after Stewart’s comments about his quality.

Keown claims that after revealing their “ridiculous” strategy, Rangers should easily defeat Dundee United.

Rangers should blow Dundee United away with ease at Tannadice on Sunday 15 September, according to Gary Keown.

Writing for the Daily Mail (14 September), Keown slammed the Dundee boardroom for their “ridiculous” plan to charge fans £30 for a virtual piece of the Tannadice turf ahead of the clash.

It is said that American owner Mark Ogren runs the club horribly, and that is something Philippe Clement and his side should take advantage of easily.

Keown wrote: “United have started the season well – however, they have only just returned to the Premiership with a new-look squad and remain a club that has been run scandalously badly under their American owner Mark Ogren.

“Yesterday, they were attracting justifiable opprobrium for advertising some ridiculous plan to charge their own punters £30 to own ‘a virtual piece of the Tannadice turf’ and get an e-certificate — whatever that may be — to prove it.

“Good God. An institution that was once feared across Europe reduced to this? Rangers should blow them away.”

Rangers to blow Dundee United away in Scottish Premiership?

While the Gers seem to have Keown’s full backing to pull off a healthy victory at Tannadice, it’s worth noting that Dundee United are above them in the Premiership table after four matches.

The Tangerines’ strong start to the campaign sees them unbeaten four games in, winning and drawing two apiece to give Jim Goodwin’s third-placed side eight points, one clear of the Light Blues in fourth.

As a result, the stakes are high when Clement’s side pitches up at Tannadice, with no room for error if the Belgian wants to avoid further scrutiny off the back of his team losing 3-0 to Celtic last time out.

As Dundee United were playing in the Scottish Championship last season, Clement is yet to occupy the Tannadice dugout, and the hosts will be looking to give his side a difficult afternoon.

Keown’s prediction that the Gers wipe the floor with the hosts will be much easier said than done, and the pressure could really ramp up if the Bears fail to win again.

The true reason for the referee’s “assistance” of Rangers player Tom Lawrence during the “don’t tackle” VAR audio storm

Craig Moore insists that the reason reason referee Ross Hardie told Tom Lawrence ‘not to tackle’ a Ross County player a clash with Rangers is because it has ALWAYS happened.

Philippe Clement ‘s team ran riot at Hampden Park that day but following the release of VAR audio from the game a new talking point has emerged. The game was poised at 1-0 when winger Aidan Denholm broke forward before being tackled by Lawrence – with the Rangers midfielder being told several times ‘don’t tackle there Tom!’ which was picked up by the microphone.

Whistler Hardie then declares the Welshman has “played the ball” – and eventually the Light Blues would go on to double their lead after the successful tackle by Lawrence. The plea with the player to avoid the tackle has raised eyebrows of supporters – but former Rangers captain Moore insists it’s nothing new.

Discussing the call on the Go Radio Football Show, Moore said: “I think people are getting a little bit excited about some audio that was released of a referee telling Tom Lawrence not to tackle. Just to reassure fans, this is something that has happened for a long, long time. I remember playing games where a referee would say ‘easy, easy, stay on your feet’ – you do get communication like this from referees…”

Host Paul Cooney chimed in: “The ref would be kind of helping you…” But was cut off by Moore and shut down the suggestion of help: “It’s not even helping you, it’s protecting you. Nobody wants to see anything other than 22 players on the field. The referees do give that kind of feedback during a game. It’s not new.”

Former Celtic hero Andy Walker added in defence of the officials: “I have had referees telling me to keep my elbows down – I have them high, I think, to protect myself and I don’t think I was throwing them to hurt anyway and they were in area where they could be endangering someone. That is something you just take on board from a referee who just understands it is a tough game for the players.

“Most referees were strong, firm and fair. You didn’t always agree with them but you knew they were doing the job to the best of their ability.”

Ibrox View: With the purchase of new property, Tavernier’s decision about the Rangers’ future is undoubtedly determined.

Rangers captain James Tavernier has seemingly provided an insight into his future in Glasgow after his latest seven-figure purchase.

The 32-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Gers all summer, and those rumours resurfaced after his abysmal performance in the 3-0 defeat to Celtic with a permanent exit from the club still on the table [Graeme Bailey].

According to the Scottish Sun [7 September], however, Tavernier has spent £1million on an apartment in the Park Circus area of Glasgow in a sign that his Rangers career will not end any time soon.

James Tavernier looks set to remain with Rangers

The performance in the Old Firm derby was a damning recognition of the gulf in class between the two sides in Glasgow and Tavernier cannot hide away from the fact he let his side down at Parkhead.

He was the culprit for Daizen Maeda’s opening goal and has split opinion among the Rangers fan base, with many wanting him out of the club and others feeling he has unfairly become the scapegoat for the side.

Either way, Philippe Clement cannot afford to lose his starting right-back at this point and will need to move forward with Tavernier in his plans until January at least.

It became apparent throughout the summer that Tavernier was free to leave the Light Blues should a suitable offer come forward. But none arrived, forcing Clement to focus on other high-profile departures to fund his summer rebuild.

A decision on the long-term future of the captain must be made sooner rather than later. While the Gers are light in the right-back spot, starting Tavernier week in and week out to force a January move with Dujon Sterling waiting in the wings makes no sense.

For now, it seems Tavernier will be staying in Scotland for the foreseeable future. That decision could be taken away from him if he doesn’t sort out his performances and start becoming the leader that Rangers desperately need.

 

“No Question”: Michael Stewart makes a devastating assertion about the Rangers following Clement’s transfer.

Rangers don’t look like they had a plan in the transfer window and have managed to weaken the side from last term, according to Michael Stewart.

The pundit told Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club on 2 September there was “no question” the squad is now worse than the one that fell short last season after a “lack of strategy” in the market this summer.

Celtic blew the Light Blues away 3-0 at Parkhead over the weekend to expose Philippe Clement’s half-finished transfer business after a financially frustrating window.

Stewart said (14m 10s): “There’s no question that Rangers are a weaker squad then they were last season but I go back to the point that there does certainly feel like there’s a lack of strategy in terms of where do they need to strengthen.

“It just seems a little bit ad-hoc and scattergun.”

Rangers lose to Celtic again after Philippe Clement transfer window

Clement may be due some criticism for how he prepared his side for the trip across Glasgow at the weekend, and comments after the game that suggested he didn’t appreciate the significance of the defeat.

But having been stuck having to sell to buy throughout the summer while the club strained to offload Michael Beale purchases there is plenty the Belgian is not responsible for.

What looks like a perfect storm at Ibrox has seemingly undone all the good work Clement had produced in his early months in Scotland.

It was widely accepted that the squad wasn’t good enough after the title race was conceded last term, and the incoming summer haul is a work in progress at best.

Connor Barron has impressed so far but was overwhelmed at Celtic, while Vaclav Cerny’s early flashes have quickly dried up and Robin Propper is already looking just as calamitous and injury-prone as every other centre-back in recent seasons

The Deadline Day captures of Neraysho Kasanwirjo and Nedim Bajrami may prove to be good ones, and Hamza Igamane finally showed some positive signs in his first minutes at Parkhead.

But it is far from obvious that what has come in is of a higher quality than what has left, and this season is already looking like a slog unless something drastic changes quickly.

As the Rangers move a mega-money contract from Ibrox wage bill, Rabbi Matondo will depart

Derek Ferguson believes that Rabbi Matondo’s move to Blackburn before the transfer window closes is the right one given his enormous salary at Rangers.

To the surprise of host Si Ferry, the former Gers midfielder revealed on Open Goal (August 22) that the quick wide player is paid £34,000 a week at Ibrox.

He has been heavily linked to a move to Ewood Park despite his impressive performance in the 6-0 victory over Ross County on August 24 [Daily Mail, 22 August].

Ferguson thinks it would make sense to approve an exit for the money he is on so Philippe Clement can make some of his own signings prior to the transfer deadline.

“The other thing is in terms of the wages because you hear the rumours up here about what he’s on,” he exclusively told Ibrox News.

And he seems to be on a hell of a lot of money for the Scottish Premiership.

“I believe the manager would prefer to have him removed from the team because he needs new players.”

“The manager has had a good year to look at Rabbi; he’s been there for a good while.” He might not be his type.

“I’m sure he leaves with the best wishes of the fans,”

Rabbi Matondo will stay, according to Rangers manager Philippe Clement, barring a sizable offer.

Rangers winger is what Blackburn Rovers manager wants at Ewood Park.

Even before he scored two goals at the weekend, Blackburn manager John Eustance announced his team’s interest in the 23-year-old [Lancashire Telegraph, August 22].

Raising the stakes on a late departure, Clement said after the game that Matondo would stay unless a club were to “come with enough money” [Sky Sports, 24 August].

The Welsh international’s wage would probably be justified if he consistently produced results similar to his most recent one.

It may not be a contract the Gers can afford to carry, though, after two years of patchy form and fitness and only moments of brilliance [Scottish Sun, 23 August], especially in light of rumours he might be used as a makeweight to bring in Blackburn captain Lewis Travis.