Stephen Craigan baffled by ‘criminal’ James Tavernier moment in St Mirren v Rangers
Stephen Craigan was left baffled by James Tavernier’s “criminal defending” during one moment in Rangers’ 2-1 win at St Mirren on Sunday (28 April).
The Gers captain was guilty of trying to play a pass out when under pressure from Mikael Mandron, who charged it down before being thwarted by Jack Butland.
Mandron did cancel out a Michael Bolton own goal, which ultimately counted for nothing as Cyriel Dessers’ second-half winner at St Mirren Park saw Rangers win the points.
But Craigan pointed out Tavernier was guilty of a similar piece of defending in the 3-3 draw with Celtic (7 April) and felt he was lucky to get away with one this time around.
Speaking on BBC Sportscene (28 April, 7:41pm), he said: “James Tavernier you talk about senior players learning from mistakes, almost carbon copy of the goal against Celtic in the Old Firm game, trying to play the outside of your foot across your box, criminal defending but he gets away with it.”
James Tavernier gets away with one in St Mirren v Rangers
A player of Tavernier’s experience really should have either just played this one simply back to the goalkeeper or absolutely laced one into the stands, trying to do what he did invited a lot of unnecessary pressure.
Luckily for the skipper, he got away with one because on a different day he would have been punished for his indiscretion and it could have counted dearly against Rangers as they aim to overhaul Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Thankfully, he got away with one and, thanks to Dessers’ 20th goal of the season in all competitions, Rangers too got away with one and they are still fighting against Celtic for the title.
Performances haven’t been great lately and this was by no means a classic performance either, but ultimately they found a way to get over the line and that – frankly – was all that mattered here. On to the next one.
In other Rangers news, one ace has signed a three-year contract to quit Ibrox.
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