Barry Ferguson slams Rangers fans over phone footage he was sent, ‘too much’
Rangers supporters have been slammed by Barry Ferguson for the levels of abuse directed towards James Tavernier.
Writing in The Daily Record (13 September), the club legend said that following the Gers’ 3-0 loss to Celtic at Parkhead, he was shocked at fans confronting Tavernier in the Ibrox car park.
Ferguson agreed that Light Blues supporters were within their rights to be angry after a below-par performance saw their side thrashed, but said the abuse towards Tavernier crossed a line.
He said: “I’ve been thinking about him over these last two weeks ever since I saw the footage from outside Ibrox following the derby defeat when he was confronted by angry supporters.
“The clip was sent to me and my first thought was; ‘That’s too much.’.
“Rangers fans had every right to be angry about the way their team performed at Parkhead – but a line was crossed in terms of the levels of abuse that Tavernier was subjected to. It went way over the score.”
James Tavernier abuse crosses the line at Rangers
Tavernier is undoubtedly a player who divides opinion at Ibrox, but the facts remain that he is the club’s long-term captain and has led them to success in terms of both silverware and club records.
Hoisting league title number 55 aloft just three years ago, Tavernier should not be hounded by fans and forced out of the door, least of all following the end of a transfer window with few replacements available.
Interest from sides in Qatar and Turkey [HITC, 6 September] – the latter of whom will see its transfer window close on Friday (13 September) – is yet to come to fruition, with all the signs pointing to Tavernier staying put at Ibrox.
That means for the next few months at least, Tavernier will remain Philippe Clement’s leading figure and likely to play the majority of their matches, having started all seven played so far this season.
Further abuse towards Tavernier will only prove counter-productive, and in order to galvanise a Gers team who already have ground to make up on Celtic, the fanbase must get behind their captain in his efforts to rediscover his form.
In other Rangers news, Andy Walker has taken aim at both the Gers and Celtic’s hierarchies for inaction towards tragedy chanting.
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