Rangers star subject of Ibrox defence but told he can’t cope with electric Celtic star amid legs ‘gone’ claim

A Scottish football pundit says Rangers can’t sell James Tavernier right now – but admits a Celtic star has been showing him up.

 

It’s been claimed by talkSPORT that representatives of the Ibrox captain have held talks over him moving on as he “could be tempted to leave Ibrox after being subjected to fan abuse following last weekend’s Old Firm derby defeat to Celtic.” Clubs in Turkey and Qatar have been mentioned.

Tavernier has been under scrutiny after Daizen Maeda left him staring down a difficult afternoon during a 3-0 loss against Celtic, and fans greeted him and teammates at Ibrox post-match with fury. McManus believes Tavernier has been made a scapegoat.

Speaking to PLZ, the former Dundee and Hibs player reckons Rangers can’t afford to sanction the experienced right-back’s exit but the games against Maeda and Celtic are a struggle pace-wise. He explained: “He seems to have become a huge scapegoat for the supporters.

“We all saw the situation outside Ibrox where the supporters were giving him abuse, I think you look on social media you know he’s getting dogs abuse ‘He’s not captain material’ and he’s really come under fire from a large section of the Rangers supporters.

“For me, I think he’s still one of Rangers’ best players, he gets exposed against Celtic because he’s up against Maeda who’s a Duracell bunny, he just can’t deal with that pace. I think in other games he will be fine.