New Rangers catchphrase gets an airing as James Tavernier swaps doom and gloom for determined title mantra

It was the gloomy catchphrase James Tavernier reached for time and time again as he tried to explain away Rangers’ repeated failures - “disappointing”.

The Ibrox skipper trotted out the phrase so often there was even a viral video doing the rounds on social media earlier this season comprising the numerous clips of him blurting the word out having been shoved in front of the cameras. The backdrop’s changed but the toe-curling, one-word assessment stayed the same. In fairness to the Englishman, what else was he going to say?

With Michael Beale in charge, the captain found himself having to go out and defend the indefensible on an almost weekly basis at the start of the campaign. Be it at Rugby Park on the opening day, in the bowels of the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven after a crushing Champions League loss to PSV or back home at Ibrox after disastrous defeats to Celtic and Aberdeen, it was Tavernier’s job to go out and put a brave face on the most feeble of performances.

All that changed when Beale - and Tavernier for that matter - was put out of his misery. In came Philippe Clement to restore confidence and control to an Ibrox side that had been in danger of careering completely off course.

The days of Beale bluster and repeated contradictory statements were over, with the appointment of his Belgian replacement heralding a new era of straight-talking, serious management. Unlike the Londoner, if you ask Clement the same question three weeks running, you’ll get the same answer every time.

Be you player, punter or Press, everyone knows exactly where they stand with the new Ibrox gaffer. And thanks to that, his captain is now getting the chance to air a new motto on an even more regular basis than his sobering slogan of old.