The Rangers clues for starting XI shake up that Philippe Clement dropped amid Bajrami and Cortes fitness update
For the seething supporter who let rip at James Tavernier on the Ibrox doorstep, the Rangers captain is a poster boy for the club’s era of decline.
But for his boss, the skipper is a good example of how a leader should respond when times are tough. It was Tavernier and Clement who took the brunt of fan fury as Gers trudged back across the city after their 3-0 Parkhead pasting the weekend before last.
Clement found himself surrounded by a posse of irate punters demanding answers on how things have got so bad, so quickly with their team already five points adrift of their bitter rivals just four games in. But with Tavernier, it got personal. “Do us a favour and f*** off,” spat one fan in a disgraceful rant. “You’re nothing but a loser.”
A nice way to treat the man who led the club to arguably their biggest title ever just three years ago, not to mention a Europa League final 12 months later, eh? Clement’s own emotions have cooled since that painful defeat and he was calm enough on Friday as he sat down for his first media conference since that Old Firm loss to write those shocking scenes off as the result of tempers boiling over in the “heat of the moment”. And in the cold light of day, he could only praise the way his captain has responded to that ugly encounter.
“Very mature,” he said. “We talked about [what happened]. It’s not a nice thing. If you’re a captain, you’re a symbol of a team. And people see you that way. I had the same experiences before in Brugge. And I was there 10 years like Tav.
“In the moments when it’s really good, it’s really nice to be captain. And in moments when the team doesn’t perform then it’s not - but it’s not only about you.
“It’s about the team. And you don’t reach the expectations of the fans at that moment you’re the first one that they yell to. So I had these moments also in my career. It’s part of being captain. And I have to say he takes it really maturity.
“He’s very motivated to get really good results over the next couple of months and to get the love back of everybody in the club. The love is from a lot of people still there.
“Some people were very, very disappointed after the Celtic game. What we can understand. Because we were also.
"Am I surprised that he is the one who takes the abuse? It’s a society thing. It’s not only a Rangers thing. It’s all over the world like that.
“And the captain and the manager are the symbols of that. And they get the most stick in those moments. So that’s part of our job and our life. Is it a nice thing? Is it a good thing? Is it a thing you love? No, totally not. But it’s a world we live in.
“Yes [you need mental strength in these situations], but otherwise you’re not ready to do that, to be a captain of a club. So that’s also an important thing if people look for a captain.
“Because it’s easy to be a captain in the moments that you win or when the club, everything goes really well, to be a symbol of that.
“The real captains are the ones who stand in front of the ship and keep everything in a good way in the moment when it’s difficult.
“And that’s what Tav’s been doing. He’s been focusing on himself, on the team. Training really hard. Playing in a bounce game with Motherwell last week with the right mentality. Helping the new guys in their integration here. Helping the young guys. So I didn’t see a difference in that.”
Clement scoffed at reports from Turkey that claimed a string of SuperLig clubs had been preparing a move for the right-back ahead of their local transfer deadline on Friday night. But then, he’d have been surprised to see his skipper desert his team in their hour of need.
He said: “It’s easy to run away from your responsibility. He totally doesn’t do that. But he doesn’t need it also to have a fuel and motivation.”
While Tavernier is ready to lace his boots up and go again when Gers return to action against Dundee United on Sunday afternoon, frontman Danilo will be sat at home watching the Tannadice action from his couch after suffering a fresh injury set-back.
The knee problem will keep him out for just a month - but he’ll have to hope Rangers make the Europa League knockouts next year after Clement opted to drop his name from Gers’ 21-man Uefa list.
Clement - who could welcome back Oscar Cortes and hand a debut to new signing Nedim Bajrami on Tayside - said: “Danny was the really unlucky one. He did in a sprint, he slipped in a really bad way. So we first thought it would be a cruciate ligament to be honest. Luckily it’s not the case. It’s his medial ligament.
“The doctor said also that he was really lucky because of all the exercises he did [after his last ACL tear] that the knee is now so strong that it compensated a lot. But he will be out for at least four weeks. And OK, I will then respond to your second message. Why he’s not in the European list.
“Because we know already that he’s out for his first game in Europe [against Malmo]. But also with the history of before. I want to bring him back in a good way.
“So that’s first with league games at that level. But he’s not ready to play at European level at this moment. So the plan with him is first half of the season to bring him back in the league games, in the cup games. And then we can see after January he will be at his normal level again.”