Barry & Le Guen again at Rangers as Tav & Martin allegedly come to blows | OneFootball

A new and significant Rangers rumour is doing the rounds, which alludes to something which occurred back in 2006. Back then, Captain Barry Ferguson was notorious for standing up to former manager Paul Le Guen and cutting against a dire regime for which the majority of fans sided with Rangers’ own. Le Guen waived his pay-off and left, and that was about that. James Tavernier and Russell Martin Rangers fallout.

Well, the rumour today is that history has repeated itself. Only this time it’s obviously not Barry Ferguson, it is James Tavenier, who has allegedly stood up to Russell Martin in the dressing room in a furious row between the two. Some fans are applauding Tavenier, saying that they’re not big fans of his, but if the story is true, then they hugely admire what this captain has done, just like Barry did all those years ago. This follows on from Martin’s choice of skipper earlier this year, which sparked anger among supporters as fans fumed at his captaincy call.

We must admit, we don’t entirely agree. Not because we disagree with what Tavenier would have alleged to have done. The captain should stand up to stuff like this. No, we don’t believe James Tavenier’s motives, if the story is true, would be anything other than selfishness, because he’s not been getting picked. Rangers fans have already shown their feelings towards Martin’s choices, with 93% of those polled recently siding against his decision-making.

Tavenier, right now, is just a squad player. He hasn’t been starting many matches this season at all under Martin, and clearly has a petted lip over that. He has had a sense of entitlement about this club ever since he’s been here. He’s been a first pick, a mainstay, no matter how he was playing, and this is the first season in which he has not been a categorical first pick. So he has a lot less to lose, and a lot more petty in mind, if this story is indeed true. The captaincy issue has loomed over Martin from the outset, with criticism falling on him for dropping the ball in his very first big call.

We do absolutely agree that the Rangers captain has every right to stand up to the manager, and to an extent, we do accept and endorse our captain doing that. But we don’t see James Tavenier in any way as a captain of Rangers. He never has been. He has been extremely spineless and wet, and far from the strong character that we need in the armband. The wider press has long debated Tavernier’s role and contribution, with even the Scottish Sun analysing how tactical shifts under Martin affected his place in the team.

So if this story is true, we feel like it’s a lashing out, a protest against not being selected. Why not have a go at the guy who’s not picking me? It seems like a last-ditch resort from the wearer of the armband. That said, of course, fundamentally, we can’t really say that we’re even on his side, strictly speaking.

Fans earlier voted to get rid of both Hamza Igamane and Martin, as a result of those two having that little stand-off on Sunday. We would be the same here with Tavenier and Martin. Both of them can clear off. We’ve had enough of Tavenier. He offers very little, and we’re not really endorsing anything which is in support of him.

Not that we think he’s a bad guy. It is not about the personality. It’s about someone’s untouchability at Ibrox, and the privilege with which they have been at Rangers for so long without seeming to be accountable.

That all said, it is just yet another ugly story that’s happening at Rangers in yet another regime, that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But it did, and now we’re paying the price for yet another James Tavernier and Russell Martin Rangers fallout..