Chris Sutton has called on James Tavernier to apologise for his apology.
After hiding for more than 24 hours from the flack that followed the 7-1 defeat from Liverpool the Ibrox skipper put his name to a sheepish apology on the club website.
There was no sign of an in-house video to accompany the comments as Tavpen went through a tick-list of all the things that had angered supporters throughout Thursday.
The former Wigan utility man even defended his players against accusations that they chucked it despite the evidence of losing five goals in a 21 minute period highlighted by a hat-trick from Mo Salah.
Firing back at Tav in the Daily Record, Sutton said:
Tavernier should come straight back out and apologise for his apology. What kind of attitude is that? Listen, Tavernier has been a decent Rangers captain. He had his struggles over the years but he led the side to a title win. They ended Celtic’s bid for 10, won the Scottish Cup and led the team to the Europa League Final. All great achievements.
But he doesn’t do himself any favours with this stuff. If the Champions League was just a bonus and the league and cup are the main things, why not just play the kids in Napoli then? Why charge fans top dollar to get into Ibrox and let them cough up fortunes travelling across the continent to support their team.
It just smacks of a lack of ambition and an acceptance that this competition is just about turning up and picking up a few bob. It has to be more than that.
When it comes to Europe, people are sick about hearing about lessons needing to be learned. But Tavernier’s apology is a major example of the negative mindset that can’t be repeated. Scottish clubs should be relishing the chance to compete on this stage no matter how difficult – not feeling sorry for themselves.
In March 2020 Tav told the club programme that him and his team-mates can’t handle the pressure of expectations.
Wednesday was Liverpool’s first away win of the season, Jurgen Klopp’s side are sitting in 10th place in the EPL.
One club’s manager tells his players they need millions to compete in CL. That same club’s captain says it’s a bonus being in the CL and the main focus is on domestic competitions…
Another club’s manager embraces the CL challenge and goes at it head on… which do you prefer? https://t.co/KcAI1ivnrr— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) October 14, 2022