Philippe Clement hails James Tavernier as Instagram post draws £15m Premier League attention

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has heaped the praise on James Tavernier following the Ibrox captain’s free-kick heroics v Kilmarnock.

The Ibrox boss was speaking after Rangers edged out Kilmarnock 2-1 at Rugby Park in a potentially pivotal result in the Scottish Premiership title race. But had it not been for the heroics of James Tavernier – who bent a genuinely world class free-kick equaliser past Kilmarnock goalie Will Dennis in the second half – things might not have worked out in Ayrshire. There were several big moments in the game but none were perhaps more important than the stunning long-range free-kick and Philippe Clement was asked about James Tavernier after the match.

Philippe Clement on James Tavernier v Kilmarnock

Speaking in his post-match presser, Belgian boss Clement praised Tavernier for taking responsibility for the Rangers team. Taking the chance to also praise the Ibrox fans, the Rangers manager believes the attitude of the club’s captain fantastic sums up the sentiment from the stands. “He is always there,” said Clement. He’s always there. He fights hard for the team, because it’s not only about scores and stats but also the defensive job. “And he stays positive, he keeps on fighting until the last second, he gives everything and that mentality has become more-and-more in the team and also with the fans“They were also great today, they were amazing today. You can become negative because in the first half you go behind, it’s difficult to create chances, but they kept on singing, they kept their positivity, they kept on pushing.“They know the team will do everything, everything, everything to get these three points so this connection that there is now between the fans and the team is also major for me.”

Rangers captain takes to Instagram

James Tavernier also took to Instagram after the Kilmarnock match in a message which praises his teammates who “dug deep” to secure a “important victory”.The comment wasn’t lost on several of the Rangers captain’s fellow Ibrox stars, who flooded the post with responses following the win over Kilmarnock. Here’s how some of the Rangers squad responded to James Tavernier’s Instagram post: Jack Butland (JButland_) “short sleeve skip Ridvan Yilmaz (ridvanyilmaz3) “Tavtastic Fabio Silva (Fabio.silva) “DifferentThe Rangers captain’s brother – £15m Bournemouth midfielder Marcus Tavernier – also responded to the post with a “😮‍💨” emoji.The free-kick stunner v Kilmarnock takes James Tavernier’s Rangers haul for the season to 20 goals with the legendary Ibrox Hall of Famer on 121 strikes in total for the Ibrox club.

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