Poll re preferred choice for Rangers right back:

[PortoyMortoy]

Tav is still comfortably our best rb. Hes just had a couple shocking games in the last few weeks

 

[Big Buff]

Or you could watch him domestically from when he came into the team again and defended well.
The praise of Tavernier was he makes mistakes but makes up for it due to his creativity.
We have barely seen that this season.

The best option is to buy a new right back.

Sir, I implore you to please go back and watch a Jon Flanagan game.

There is a reason we were able to pick him up for nothing and his contract is being allowed to run down.

The guy is good at last ditch tackling, but he's pretty terrible at everything else. His athleticism is gone, his positioning is suspect and he's not reliable enough in terms of injury to have in the team for any length of time.

 

[Jjbscotty]

Tav but he needs a few games on the bench.

 

[kdy_bear]

Bit unfair on Flanagan this poll, we haven't really had the chance to appraise him in the right back role due to 'he who must not be dropped' in there all the time. Tav has his attributes going forward (or at least use to have), but I just feel Flanagan probably has more of the defensive qualities needed for this position.

 

[Realger34]

Tav

 

[Talktalk]

If fit, who would be your first choice right back for Rangers?

He needs some help to cut silly mistakes down it may be a mental thing , the one yesterday was down to his fear of being clattered, if he had committed to the football it would have been ok

 

[Virgil Hilts]

Bit unfair on Flanagan this poll, we haven't really had the chance to appraise him in the right back role due to 'he who must not be dropped' in there all the time. Tav has his attributes going forward (or at least use to have), but I just feel Flanagan probably has more of the defensive qualities needed for this position.

I don’t see how the poll is unfair to Falanagan, it’s framed “if fit”.

Looks like most people who have voted so far want Tav to be Rangers right back going forward.

Would imagine Flanagan might be for the off Jan / summer if he’s not going to feature much.

 

[Big Buff]

Bit unfair on Flanagan this poll, we haven't really had the chance to appraise him in the right back role due to 'he who must not be dropped' in there all the time. Tav has his attributes going forward (or at least use to have), but I just feel Flanagan probably has more of the defensive qualities needed for this position.

how do i report a post

 

[Applepine]

Tavernier for me.

Every player makes mistakes in every game. Misplaced passes, wrong decisions, missed clearances, giving away possession cheaply. It just seems Tav's recent ones have all been punished with goals.

Tav all day long.

Hes a terrible defender,always has been.

 

[Jaws]

Tav's the guy that people on this very forum, didn't want sold for under £15million in the summer, is it the same geniuses that are now crucifying him?

Lost form in the last couple of months but still one of our best players.

 

[Jaws II]

Sir, I implore you to please go back and watch a Jon Flanagan game.

There is a reason we were able to pick him up for nothing and his contract is being allowed to run down.

The guy is good at last ditch tackling, but he's pretty terrible at everything else. His athleticism is gone, his positioning is suspect and he's not reliable enough in terms of injury to have in the team for any length of time.

His strength is Tavernier’s weakness. He is a defender and he does that job well, he isn’t an attacking option.
Taverniers plus side was that, however he isn’t doing either job well.
aI am not saying Flanners is a long term option that is why I said sign a new right back.
Tavernier isn’t at his age going to improve on this, once again in a crunch game he will %^*& up and cause a goal.
Our team it seems is too fragile to cope with the adversity when this happens.

 

[S English]

Tav is our bets RB and one of our best players, the haters on here (and yes they are haters) have always been around but last season had to stay quiet as he was outstanding in most matches - a couple of less than great performances and they are all out again shouting for him to be dropped/sold/run out of Ibrox - it's ridiculous and pathetic

 

[baystatebear]

The fact so many people are sitting genuinely debating whether Flanagan or Polster should be in before Tav shows there is a vast amount of poster on here who wouldn't know a game of football if they were in the middle of one.

I think there is '...a vast amount of posters...' on FF who know and recognize a player who has become increasingly unreliable, and whose mistakes continue to hurt the team. The bottom line is that some point Gerrard has to call time on Tavernier.

If we are fortunate enough to be ahead, tied, or within touching distance of the yahoos by Christmas, an absolute priority must be the addition of a solid, reliable right back.

 

[Big Buff]

His strength is Tavernier’s weakness. He is a defender and he does that job well, he isn’t an attacking option.
Taverniers plus side was that, however he isn’t doing either job well.
aI am not saying Flanners is a long term option that is why I said sign a new right back.
Tavernier isn’t at his age going to improve on this, once again in a crunch game he will %^*& up and cause a goal.
Our team it seems is too fragile to cope with the adversity when this happens.

I contest the section in bold in the strongest possible manner.

And the amateur sports psychologists who state with absolute confidence that our team and captain are too "mentally fragile" need to behave. A mentally fragile team or captain doesn't survive an eight-game Europa League qualifying knockout gauntlet two seasons in a row. They don't crush our bitter rivals in a cauldron of noise twice last year.

We will drop points in games that we should win on paper, the only season that didn't happen was over a hundred years ago.

People need to deal with the fact that football is a sport with a high degree of variance in the final outcome. Sheer luck will have a significantly larger impact on our season than any perceived "mental fragility"

 

[tottie beck]

Tav, but you forgot Polster in your poll

 

[The Moon on Mars is Blue]

Tav for me but he is in need of a break. How many games has he missed over the last 3/4 season. It's more a concentration problem . For me he needs a break recharge his batteries and come back to top form.

 

[Chester Loyal]

I’d probably rest Tav on Thursday and then he’d be straight back in my team.

The abuse the guy takes (and it is abuse) is disgusting and way way over the top.

 

[RabSpackman]

First choice for me would always be Tav but that shouldn't mean he can't be dropped when not playing well.

Tav is the best rightback at the club by some distance.

He has limitations but he also provides an attacking option that nobody else does.

He is having a honking season by his own standards but at this point there is no alternative to letting him find his form.

 

[Bluegenebop]

Tav keeps his position as he's the best we have for now. IMO he should, however, relinquish the taking of corners and free-kicks to some of our other Deadball takers... Barisic, Kent, Davis, etc. It allows him to concentrate on his game and cut out his lapses in concentration.

 

[minder]

I would say Tavernier is our best right back but there is no getting away from the fact he is going through a very bad patch.
This is where a manager earns his wages.
You either stick with him and get him through this spell or drop him.If you drop him you have to wonder if that could have even more of a negative impact on him.
I'm glad I'm not the manager here as it's a very tough call

 

[Danger Zone]

If Tav finds last seasons form then it’s him by the length of the Clyde. But he needs to be taken out right for the sake of the team collectively and for him individually because he’s a huge liability at present.

 

[barrheadbear]

Tav.

He's had some absolute howlers lately and Sunday is as poor a performance I can remember from him.
That said, he has just hit a dip in form and whilst, he certainly isnt above being benched, I don't think he should be stripped of the captaincy and punted out the door, as some are suggesting.

Agree completely.

No one should get to keep the jersey when not playing well but some of the over reaction on here is shocking.

Tav is going through a tough patch and SG will have to think carefully on how best to handle the situation.

However lets not forget that after Alfie, Tav is supposedly our biggest saleable asset. If we, the clubs own supporters are going to absolutely trash him, can only imagine how the media will react and before to long he'll be back to the £3m player that WBA wanted to buy.

During the summer we had many on FF, myself included, valuing Tav at between £15m to £25m on the back of Tierney's transfer fee. Perhaps a more realistic figure is around £10m but only when playing as well as he did last season. A spell out of the side for a fews weeks might be no bad thing for Tav, allowing him to recharge, refocus and return as the attacking force we so badly miss as well as improving on his defensive duties.

 

[Bruce_Wayne]

I think there is '...a vast amount of posters...' on FF who know and recognize a player who has become increasingly unreliable, and whose mistakes continue to hurt the team. The bottom line is that some point Gerrard has to call time on Tavernier.

If we are fortunate enough to be ahead, tied, or within touching distance of the yahoos by Christmas, an absolute priority must be the addition of a solid, reliable right back.

100% wrong.

We have a very reliable right back who is going through a tough bit of form the now. What he needs is the support behind him but we all know people like yourself will be on his back this coming Sunday as soon as he ever dares make the slightest mistake.

 

[stevie221]

One thing about Tav is he's never anonymous. The weight on his crosses and passes yesterday was awful and it happens but they are the exception. One of his howling games this season was defensive play, yesterday it was passing accuracy, finding his man. We should have had enough depth yesterday to compensate for an off-day for the captain. He's one of our better players and that's what makes it doubly frustrating.

 

[Jaws II]

I contest the section in bold in the strongest possible manner.

And the amateur sports psychologists who state with absolute confidence that our team and captain are too "mentally fragile" need to behave. A mentally fragile team or captain doesn't survive an eight-game Europa League qualifying knockout gauntlet two seasons in a row. They don't crush our bitter rivals in a cauldron of noise twice last year.

We will drop points in games that we should win on paper, the only season that didn't happen was over a hundred years ago.

People need to deal with the fact that football is a sport with a high degree of variance in the final outcome. Sheer luck will have a significantly larger impact on our season than any perceived "mental fragility"

Until we win something there mentality will be challenged. This is the only way to end that as the evidence so far shows we don’t have the mentality to see things through.
As for Flanagan as someone who played this position myself he is a decent hard tackling defender, nothing else. He isn’t a wing back if that is what you want.
You are right previous teams did drop points but they had the strength to come back and still win leagues and cups while this team so far when it comes to a crunch game tends to crumble.

 

[Jase]

Tav hasn’t been the same animal since Daniel Candeias left. (still don’t understand that)

However he is still our best option at RB. That said, a ‘rest‘ might do him the world of good.

On Candeias, he has played 8 league matches out of 8 this season with 3 goals and 3 assists.

Genclerbirligi are however in the relegation fight.

 

[Big Buff]

Until we win something there mentality will be challenged. This is the only way to end that as the evidence so far shows we don’t have the mentality to see things through.
As for Flanagan as someone who played this position myself he is a decent hard tackling defender, nothing else. He isn’t a wing back if that is what you want.
You are right previous teams did drop points but they had the strength to come back and still win leagues and cups while this team so far when it comes to a crunch game tends to crumble.

Again, RE: the bit in bold, the evidence directly contradicts this. If Europa League qualifiers or Old Firm games are not crunch games, I do not know what is.

But it is nonsense regardless. It is monumentally stupid to judge the quality of a team based off their performance in knockout competitions, because of the high degree of variance in those competitions. How often does the best team win a knockout competition? Take a look at this list and tell me how often the winners of the FA Cup were the best team in England, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FA_Cup_Finals

People who judge a team on that basis will get the team they deserve.

And Flanagan can't play dead. Perceptions of his play are not matched by the reality of it.

 

[RFC_Champions]

Tav’s going to be fun be of these players that we don’t know have we have until we don’t have it anymore.

The team are far to reliant on him. He’s scores crucial goals, he has numerous assists and must create a fair few of our strikers chances. He’s also been one of our biggest attacking threats by the way our team sets up and style.

Therefore, if he has an off game (which he has done for a few times) - we generally struggle at both ends of the pitch and struggle for positive results.

If Ojo or Arfield start producing performances, chances or goals - we won’t be speaking about Tav with so much emphasis and maybe that will relieve the pressure on our captain.

 

[wilso10]

Unless we are willing to spend millions in January, we ain't getting someone who contributes so much in an attacking sense as JT does, absolutely nowhere near it.

We got lucky with getting JT for such a tuppence when we did, I'm not sure we'll uncover someone who can do just as good an attacking job as well as being an excellent defender for anywhere south of £5m in today's market.

So that begs the question, do we stick with a guy who gives us so much going forward and who we accept is prone to the odd mistake in a defensive sense, or do we go for a more reliable full back and sacrifice the goal contributions?

If I'm Gerrard, I think I know what answer I'd give.

 

[temperance]

For the next couple of games it’s Flanagan for me, Tav needs a rest.

 

[Craigie]

 

[nasalsinatra]

Tavernier has hardly missed a game since joining us in 2015. Four years of great service. He is short of confidence at present. He will come good. Back off.

 

[buffalosoldier]

The hatred people have for Tavernier borders on sinister.

 

[SmileyBear]

Flanagan at the moment and I rate Tav and think he's one of our best players but he's just made too many costly mistakes now.

 

[1914-18]

Tav is a good player, he just needs a shot on the bench

 

[GallowgateBlue]

The amount of folk turning on Tav and poor form towards him, by our own is embarrassing to be fair. He has had games where he hasn't been to his usual standards granted. The man has played some amount of games for us over the last few years and has been one of the most consistent, hence his captaincy. I highly doubt Gerrard is calling crunch dalks to have him replaced. Mistakes happen in football and I get some people are angry or upset but come on tae £uck. In no way a dig ag you OP as you've only started a poll to ask the question it's more the bi-polar blood thirsty section of our so called supporters.

 

[thetoptier]

there should be a "should have bought a right back last summer " option

 

[Resident_hammy_bear]

The correct answer is Tav obv but while he is playing so badly and costing us multiple games he needs benched, as it should be for every player

 

[TommyEgan]

Quality

The good old poll to determine who we should play

Absolute joke

tbh the post shows that the majority of fans are sticking with him. The amount of abuse in other threads and even in this one leads most to think the opposite.

 

[Virgil Hilts]

The hatred people have for Tavernier borders on sinister.

Hatred?

Genuinely not seen anything on this thread that’s anywhere near an unfair / overly harsh critique, never mind hatred.