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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Blair Meikle

James Tavernier details Rangers dressing room inquest ahead of Celtic crunch

Rangers captain James Tavernier led a forthright player discussion after their Club Brugge calamity.

The Scottish giants were walked all over and humiliated by the Belgians as they lost 6-0 on the night and 9-1 on aggregate, equalling the 7-1 thrashing from Liverpool as their worst European result.

It comes after a disastrous start to the Premiership season with just three points picked up from three games and manager Russell Martin is under sever pressure already.

They are in need of a serious pick-me-up ahead of facing Celtic in the derby on Sunday, and Tavernier revealed there was a dressing room inquest.


“That’s a standard of performance we haven’t shown throughout Europe or even in domestic games, in terms of the level of the goals we conceded.

“Even when Max got sent off, we had to dig him out as a team and show some resilience. But we didn’t do that, with the manner of the goals we lost.

“We had a long, hard chat in the changing room afterwards and held ourselves accountable.  That’s what we have to do if we’re going to push forward as a team together.

“We know how early it is in the season but our aspiration was to reach the Champions League. We have to quickly focus on the Celtic game.

“We understand the fans’ outrage, that’s only right. We have to now prove a point. We have to prove we belong in a Rangers top and put in performances they can appreciate.

“The gaffer gives us a game plan and we have to stick to it. We have to carry out whatever he tells us. Obviously, it went up in the air on Wednesday night when Max was sent off. But it’s a mistake, that happens in football. We have to react as a team.

“It wasn’t like Brugge had to do amazing things to score. We just didn’t defend as a team as we should have. That’s what makes me angry and why we have to hold our hands up.”

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