Sky Sports pundit claims Clement sees no Tavernier replacements at Rangers as captain nears end

Philippe Clement sees no natural replacement for James Tavernier in the Rangers squad despite the captain likely nearing the end of his time with the club, claims Kris Boyd.

The Sky Sports pundit insisted in his Scottish Sun column on 13 September that there would be no benefit to stripping the exit-linked right-back of the armband despite his poor form.

Boyd says that would only “embarrass” the 32-year-old and when primary back-up Dujon Sterling is too injury prone to be seen as “reliable” and Deadline Day signing Neraysho Kasanwirjo is not yet “tried and tested”

The ex-Ibrox striker accepts that Tavernier is likely entering the final months of his Gers career but says there is “no point” in a captaincy change now, while insisting Clement “needs” the defender who still remains the best right-back available to him.

Dujon Sterling not trusted to take over from Rangers captain

Tavernier was heavily-linked to a Trabzonspor move in the summer [Rangers Review, 23 July], and again became subject of exit speculation in the wake of the 3-0 loss at Celtic [HITC, 6 September] but has turned down the option of leaving for Turkey [HITC, 12 September].

A departure is probably on the cards sooner rather than later after a start to the season which has seen him look a long way short of his best and subject to major criticism already.

Boyd’s argument may be logical but it is unlikely to be popular if Clement doesn’t even rotate at right-back to test out Sterling and Kasanwirjo.

If either were to replace Tavernier on the right they would likely improve the defensive side of the situation but surely wouldn’t have anywhere near the offensive abilities.

But while the skipper himself is hardly providing that there is no use in blindly sticking with him game after game when it isn’t working.

It is clearly a delicate situation and bombing a player out who has delivered so much to the club isn’t the way to go, but Tavernier himself must know he is underperforming.

Sterling’s fitness issues bring the remarkable durability of the captain into stark focus, but over the coming weeks there surely has to be some opportunities for the Chelsea man in his natural position, and likely also for Kasanwirjo.

In other Rangers news, a BBC pundit has been banned after his on-air outburst about the Light Blues.

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