James Tavernier is still the Rangers captain, according to Clement.
James Tavernier will continue to lead the Rangers, as confirmed by Philippe Clement, who has also disclosed that he is evaluating Steven Smith, Alex Rae, and Steven Davis for potential “Rangers man” backup roles.
The Rangers manager made a strong impression when he addressed the media for the first time in a formal press conference. He said that he didn’t see any need to switch up the captaincy at this time and that he would spend some time getting to know Smith, Davis, and Rae—he specifically mentioned Davis—in order to determine whether or not to make any of them permanent members of his staff.
While some Rangers supporters may be upset that Tavernier is still captain for the time being, we doubt any staff member would have suggested the young player should be demoted, so he wouldn’t have any personal motivation to bench him just yet.
Remarkably, though, he did support what Ibrox Noise had mentioned a few days prior: that all players, including Tavernier, have a “white paper” or “clean slate” to demonstrate their suitability for the Rangers.
Even while PC emphasized that he is aware that the supporters might not feel exactly the same way, everything that transpired prior to Clement’s hiring is now history!
All players will therefore have a fresh start to win over the management.
Thus, while there were a lot of important lessons to be learned from this performance, including a somewhat “put on the spot” question regarding the tragedy in Belgium from Sky’s Mark Benstead, four salient themes stand out:
There’s currently no need to change that with a new captain.
We’re evaluating whether Davis, Smith, and Rae are suitable to be long-term coaches.
Additionally, everyone is given a blank slate and an opportunity to prove themselves.
Do we concur with this? Although the manager won’t be aware of it yet, we do strongly advise against keeping Tav as captain because he is simply not very good at it and is quite unpopular with the supporters in this capacity. We only hope he’s smart enough to recognize that the current captain isn’t the right person for the job.
Apart from that, though, Clement seemed well-spoken, and we’re forward to see what he can do.
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