Richard Foster slams James Tavernier as Scott Brown scores in Rangers v Aberdeen
Richard Foster has blamed James Tavernier for Scott Brown scoring for Aberdeen in the first half of their clash with Rangers on Wednesday.
Celtic’s former captain doubled the Dons’ lead in the 16th minute when he headed in Dylan McGeouch’s corner at the front post.
However, it was made easier for Brown to score with Tavernier doing a woeful job at marking him at the set-piece.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound after the goal went in, ex-Bear Foster was less than impressed by Tavernier’s defending.
“James Tavernier is marking him but Scott Brown does very well to lose him, fakes to go to the back post but goes to the front post.
“Low diving header, we’ve seen him score plenty of those.
“One of those guys who’s decent enough in the air for a relatively small guy, hence he’s being picked up by James Tavernier.
“But he loses him far too easily and powers the header into the bottom corner.
“This is a different Aberdeen to what I’ve seen before.
“There’s so much energy and pace about them, they’re hassling Rangers, they’re putting pressure on them, they’re winning second balls in midfield.
“Rangers, at the moment, look a bit shellshocked.”
Nothing new here
Tavernier is a great leader, a great captain, a great set-piece taker and a great crosser of the ball.
He is not, however, a great defender.
Tavernier has been on the books at Ibrox for over six years now and every single Gers fan knows his strengths and weaknesses.
If we know that, then you can bet your house on each of our opponents knowing it too because Tavernier, defensively, can be an absolute liability at times.
Brown has played against Tav plenty of times and he must have been licking his lips at the thought of the 29-year-old marking him at that corner.
Tavernier has got to do better than losing someone as slow and as unthreatening as the former Celtic midfielder.
In other Rangers news, the BBC have mooted the possibility of this senior man exiting Ibrox.