The captain fired the club to victory at Hampden as the first silverware on offer in Scotland was brought to Ibrox.
Captain fantastic James Tavernier won’t argue with a Rangers fans daring to dream. Instead, the Light Blues’ Hampden hero insists it is his team’s duty to transform fantasy into reality in the chase for a remarkable clean sweep at home and abroad.
A season that was in danger of becoming a nightmare as things unravelled under Michael Beale, now has a very different feel for the Ibrox support with new boss Philippe Clement still unbeaten. Tavernier’s stunning winner yesterday bagged the season’s first prize – but the skipper can’t hide from the fact the punters will now be demanding more.
Expectation levels will be soaring with Celtic apparently on the slide towards civil war and a title race that looked dead and buried only eight weeks ago is all of a sudden too close to call. There’s the Scottish Cup to come too and with Rangers also looking forward to Europa League last 16 action in the new year, there are bold notions floating around that this might be the year Gers can go for all four. It might be fanciful at this stage, but as far as Tavernier is concerned, let them dream.
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He said: “That’s what football is. If you are four-years-old, 10-years-old or if you are a fully grown man or woman, you dream about things in football. The fans will be dreaming that we can win everything.
“Us as a team? We have got to put ourselves in a good position to manage to do that. We have done that today with the first trophy so we have got to continue to build on this.
“The sky is the limit with the team. You talk about the league. There are plenty of games to be played and the final decision will be made in May.
“We’re in great stead now. We’ve got our hands on a trophy, we’ve topped the group in Europe, it’s been a huge week. We’ve got to really enjoy it but build on it and not forget what’s in front of us. We’ve got to really push ourselves, perform even better and get what we want.
“Look at what the situation was eight or nine weeks ago. Football can move very quickly. We’ve just got to perform well on Wednesday against St Johnstone. There is momentum there and we have to keep on winning.”
Tavernier has at last ticked off his to-do list of Scottish honours. He was the man who led Rangers to their first league crown in a decade in 2021, who lifted a first Scottish Cup since 2009 the season before last and who has now ended a 12-year wait for League Cup glory.
There are plenty who insist he’ll need a lot more to truly deserve the place in the Ibrox hall of fame he was awarded last summer. But the Englishman can rightly argue his small collection of medals carry their own special significance.
He said: “It’s obviously a proud moment for myself and my family, but it’s down to the team. I thought everyone really played well. We could have played better, but everyone really stood up to the task in hand and we saw it over the line.
“Rangers gave me the platform from day one nine years ago. They gave me the opportunity to play the game I love and I’ll always repay them, no matter what.
“I go out week in, week out to do my best. It’s really enjoyable now to see the team galvanised. That’s what the manager is bringing to the table, pushing each other on. It’s set out for something really special for us.
“This result was long overdue. But it was all about the team today. We probably made it a bit closer than we expected, but we knew that if they had chances we would create our own.”
Rangers’ players celebrate winning the Viaplay Cup final
Tavernier pounced 14 minutes from time to clinch victory as he lashed past Kelle Roos from a Borna Barisic cross. But he revealed that team-mate John Souttar deserves some of the credit for the goal.
He said: “I spoke to Soutts at half-time having noticed that Ross McCausland had got in at the back post a couple of times. I thought I could look to maybe get in there myself.
“With Dujon (Sterling) having such a good game, I could see more as the second half went on for him to give me a little bit of cover.
“I saw Borna get to the byeline and I thought I would get myself into the box. When it went up in the air, I just thought ‘get it on target’. The joy of scoring is obviously unbelievable and we managed to see it out.”
The captain paid tribute to the impact of Clement, who bagged his first trophy after just 14 games. Tav continued: “He’s come in and raised the bar, raised the standard.
“He’s given us a lot of clarity as a team about what he wants us to do, and everyone has really got on board with it. He says it’s not just about the team that’s starting, it’s about the 22 or 24 all really pushing themselves on the training field.
“That’s really positive to see behind closed doors, that we’re all really pushing each other to get the success for us all to enjoy. There are a lot of quality players out injured, but I really believe in this squad and the talent we have in the team.
“Dujon has been absolutely unbelievable since he’s been playing in that midfield role. He’s come in and been asked to do a job, and he got man of the match in the final and deservedly so.
“A lot of players played really well but Dujon was really good. Cyriel Dessers is really coming into his strengths, he was a big matchwinner for us on Thursday night.
“We’re all pushing each other every single day and standards are going higher and higher. We’re only going to get better going forward.”
