He doesn’t want to be captain- Ibrox legend makes huge Tavernier claim

Kevin Thomson believes that James Tavernier would be happier without the burden of the Ibrox captaincy.

Last season the former Wigan ace became the highest scoring defender in the history of British football but that didn’t shield him from the anger of seeing Celtic finish up with two more trophies to their name.

Three clashes with Daizen Maeda over the course of seven weeks left Tav more than disappointed with hopes high that he would be sold in the summer.

The Daily Record went as far as reporting that Tavernier would be losing the captaincy, they quickly backtracked on the story but it was indicative about the treatment of the legendary Hall of Famer.

Hopes of a move to Turkey or Saudi Arabia predictably came to nothing over the summer with the empty jersey with an armband playing in every minute of five SPFL and two Champions League ties this season.

Thomson is a regular on ‘Rangers TV’ undermining the man with the armband isn’t the done thing but the Daily Record reports the former Hibs midfielder saying:

I think Tav deep down, and I say this with the greatest respect, I’m not so sure he wants to be the captain of Rangers. I think he would rather go under the radar a wee bit.

I think the responsibility that comes with it, he will love. It’s a massive profile and prestigious honour to get. But I certainly think it brings a real unwanted attention on his shoulders and I would think he would rather go a wee bit more unnoticed.

I actually don’t think it would be a bad thing for him (to drop the captaincy). But we’re too far down the road now. He is the captain of the club and he has to remain the captain of the club or it would cause more animosity, more fraction, so they need to ride with it.

Now into his 10th season of failure Tav is expected to be honoured with a Testimonial match at the start of next season.

With eight games played so far this season, with pre and post match interview duties Tavernier has only been put in front of the media once with Jack Butland the go-to guy for steady Eddie comments.