Dave King stews over Rangers fan rage aimed at James Tavernier as he reveals John Bennett's 'devastation'

Dave King has leapt to James Tavernier's defence and slammed angry fans who confronted the skipper after last weekend's derby defeat.

The Rangers captain had abuse shouted at home as he exited Ibrox, Philippe Clement and his squad having made their way back to the stadium before heading home following a damaging 3-0 derby defeat to Celtic. The Belgian's attempts to quote shots on target stats to punters demanding answers, and then Tavernier had to be ushered away as one individual singled him out for some foul mouthed abuse as he emerged from the ground.

And former Gers chairman King has warned it's not on, reminding them of Tavernier's achievements over a decade of service to the club. And he's assured fans that under-fire chairman John Bennett is feeling it just as much as they are as he tries to turn the ship around. “It is incredibly disappointing to hear that a small minority of supporters are letting their anger temporarily overcome them to the point of directing personal abuse at our players,” King told the Rangers Review.

“We are all immensely disappointed at the performance of our team and its decline since title 55. That, however, is not the fault of the present team or the individual players who were approached to play for the club (not the other way round) and who are mostly doing their best. We all judge player performance - that is part of being an emotional supporter. We wish slower players to be faster, we wish less creative players to be more creative, etc. Ultimately it is the balancing of many factors that create a successful team. That is why player recruitment should assess multiple aspects, inter alia, the player’s technical ability, temperament, character (very important at Rangers), leadership,