James Tavernier speaks out on Connor Goldson’s controversial Rangers comments
Rangers captain James Tavernier has defended teammate Connor Goldson over comments the centre-back made last week.
In the wake of the Bears’ 3-1 defeat to Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup semi-final, Goldson suggested that the team had lost their “hunger” after winning the league title last season.
The 28-year-old was heavily criticised for his words by supporters and pundits alike, with Kris Commons describing it as “an absolute embarrassment”.
Tavernier has played down the comments and denied there is a lack of desire in the Ibrox dressing room.
“The boys are always hungry – they are at Rangers for a reason,” he said [via Football Scotland]. “We are here to win games and trophies.
“When the boss came in the boys were looking forward to working for him.
“Last night [against Sparta Prague] you saw the focus on the game plan from the boss, we carried it out the best we could after the short time we’ve had together.
“It is only going to get better with the time we work together. We’re always looking to improve.
“The hunger? It’s one of those where the frustrations kicked in at the weekend. It was still raw but the hunger is always there for the boys.
“It shouldn’t be in doubt. The other night was a great example of coming off from a difficult weekend and bouncing back with a strong result.”
Keen to move on
Goldson probably didn’t expect his comments to cause such controversy and as Tavernier suggests, it is difficult to speak rationally in the heat of the moment following such a disappointing defeat.
Nonetheless, it was a poor choice of words and it has been about damage limitation in Glasgow this week; the Rangers skipper follows Giovanni van Bronckhorst in playing down the remarks.
It is clear that all at the club simply want to move on from the semi-final loss and the aftermath and look to the future.
To do that, the team must prove that they remain as determined as ever to succeed under their new manager.
A 2-0 win against Sparta Prague in the Europa League was the perfect way for van Bronckhorst to start life in the dugout and he makes his Scottish Premiership managerial debut against Livingston on Sunday.
In other Rangers news, these are the Ajax youngsters that could follow Dave Vos to Ibrox.