Rangers v Celtic: Chris Sutton shocked as James Tavernier ‘spooked’ by Old Firm derby
Chris Sutton claims James Tavernier was “spooked” against Celtic and indicated it wasn’t the first time it has happened.
The former Parkhead forward wrote in his Daily Record column on 9 April of his shock at how “casual” the Gers captain had been to let Daizen Maeda score his “crazy” opener within seconds of kick-off.
Tavernier had seemed to assume a long Joe Hart ball forward would run through to Jack Butland and reacted late to the Japanese forward chasing it down behind him, before his attempted clearance was blocked straight into the net in an unbelievable start to the 3-3 draw.
Pointing to the right-back breaking the record as the highest scoring British defender in history with a goal in the win over Hibs last week Sutton then implied the Ibrox skipper has a habit of falling flat in Old Firm derbies.
Sutton said: “I can’t believe how casual James Tavernier was for that crazy goal in the opening 22 seconds. It’s not like he should have been surprised to see Maeda on his case.
“Tavernier was highly hailed for his incredible goal haul last week but the Rangers captain can’t keep getting spooked by these games.”
Rangers captain caught cold at Ibrox but criticism harsh
It is certainly true that as the Gers captain Tavernier has to take extra responsibility for what was a dismal team performance in the first half of a massive encounter.
He sometimes bears the brunt of more criticism than he deserves, but when he is rightly praised for what he does well he should equally be pulled up when he fails.
The 32-year-old of all people should have been laser-focused in the opening minutes of the final Old Firm at Ibrox this season, with the title potentially on the line, so his error to allow Maeda to score was hugely disappointing.
He didn’t have anywhere near his best game, but despite that he still stepped up to dispatch a perfect, if needlessly controversial, penalty into the top corner beyond Hart to help bring his side back.
And it is harsh to suggest he always fails to perform in these games when he has scored six times in the past seven meetings between the two sides of Glasgow, so while his bad game wasn’t excusable it isn’t exactly a regular pattern over the past 18 months.
He is also not alone in having questions to answer for not performing at the crucial time, with key men John Lundstram and Connor Goldson also poor, and the likes of Tom Lawrence and Scott Wright anonymous, while Fabio Silva spent too much time creating needless complications.
Rangers showed admirable fight to battle back for a point but arguably got away with one in a game that could have ended in disaster, so they will need to heed the warning ahead of first the rearranged Dundee fixture and the return at Parkhead post-split.
In other Rangers news, Sutton issued a verdict on the Dens Park game being switched to Ibrox to a shocked BBC host.
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