James Tavernier bringing up 100 league goals for Rangers is one of those numbers that should make everyone pause for a second. A right-back, a captain, and still churning out end product season after season. That’s not a wee achievement you brush past, even if it came from the penalty spot against Dundee.
A milestone that tells you plenty
People can argue about penalties all they like, but the truth is you still need the bottle to take them, keep taking them, and keep scoring them when the pressure’s on. Tavernier has done that for years, and it’s been a huge part of how Rangers have won games in tight moments.
And it’s not just the penalties either. His overall numbers for goals and assists across his time at Ibrox speak to a player who’s basically been a constant attacking outlet from full-back. In Scottish football, where the margins are often small and games can turn on one moment, having that kind of consistent threat is massive.
Why does he get it so hard?
What gets me is the way some of our own treat him like he’s a problem to be solved rather than an asset we’ve been lucky to have. He’s not perfect. No player is. But the volume of criticism he takes can feel totally out of proportion, like one poor cross or one lapse becomes a full character assessment.
There’s also this habit of reducing his captaincy down to a trophy count, as if that’s the only way you judge leadership. Football doesn’t work like that. Captains don’t pick the squad quality, don’t control every recruitment decision, and don’t get to play every season with the same level of support around them.
Legacy, context, and what comes next
We don’t know if this is Tavernier’s last season at Rangers or if he stays on for another go. But if it is nearing the end, it would be fitting to see him sign off with silverware, because he’s been at the heart of this side for a long time now.
Records matter, but so does context. Tavernier has carried a load, on and off the ball, in seasons when Rangers have been brilliant and seasons when it’s felt like hard work. Maybe some will only properly appreciate that when he’s no longer in the team sheet. I just hope we don’t wait until then to give him his due.
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