I've devoted 10 years of service to Rangers - the current situation under Russell Martin is as bad as I've ever seen it
Captain James Tavernier delivered the latest Ibrox post-mortem after Rangers’ 2-0 defeat to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership
Russell Martin has refused to call it quits as Rangers manager - but if the decision was down to the irate Ibrox support, he’d have been shown the door long before now.
One player who has seen this ugly episode occur several times before is captain James Tavernier, who was asked in the wake of Saturday’s 2-0 Premiership defeat to Hearts if some players no longer retain full faith in the Englishman.
And while he didn’t answer the question directly, the skipper insisted that no matter who the man positioned in the dugout is, those taking to the pitch still have a duty to represent the club and it’s loyal fanbase with maximum effort.
“First and foremost, the players have to play for the shirt,” Tavernier admitted when asked to perform yet another post-mortem on their latest crushing defeat. “They have to play for the badge, they have to play for the fans, they have to play for the club. Whichever order you put it in, that way it all comes together. We all have to play for the club.
“And as a team, it’s not good enough. Plain and simple. For all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never had a start to the season like this, so it’s not good enough as a team, as players. We have to do much better than this.
“Is it harder to lift myself up after all these repeated disappointments? No, I’ll always continue to keep fighting, no matter what situation I’m in. It’s about me, the senior boys, everybody. We all have to drive that.
“And no matter what disappointment is happening right now, we have to respond. But like I said, it’s the worst since I’ve been here, and we just have to get better.”
Rangers could hit rock bottom in Scottish Premiership
It’s safe to say Tavernier has endured more than his fair share of low points throughout his decade-long Gers career. Time and time again the defender has had to front up and explain why things have gone badly wrong on a regular basis.
The distress signals are sounding after the 33-year-old confessed that the current situation unfolding in Govan has never been quite as bad as they are right now under Martin’s stewardship.
He declared to feeling “ashamed” at their current league position of 10th in the Scottish Premiership table, with the alarming prospect of hitting ROCK BOTTOM by the time they play their next league game.
It’s a nightmare scenario that Martin must face up to, having been informed that his job is safe for now despite furious fans demanding his resignation. But it’s the laboured and lethargic football being served up on the field that is a glaring issue and one that doesn’t appear to be any closer to being solved.
Tavernier sighed: “It’s hard to pinpoint why that is, because a lot of changes have been made since last season to this season. It’s like what I said before, it’s about when you cross that lie, you have to earn the right to get a foot in the game.
“I felt obviously the first goal was handball, but that’s still no excuse to put the performance in first, to not even really test their keeper. Thelo hit the crossbar but we’re not creating enough chances in the final third, and on the transition, we’re conceding too many chances.
“So we all have to go home, look ourselves in the mirror and we can’t afford to keep on doing this, because in all these years I’ve been here, it’s never been this bad. We have to really stick together and start putting in performances and winning games, simple as that.”