- Andrew Cavenagh tribute underlines James Tavernier legacy and his own growing presence as Rangers chairman.
- Early missteps corrected as Patrick Stewart, Kevin Thelwell and Russell Martin exits signal decisive leadership shift.
- Danny Rohl revival restores structure and belief, pulling Rangers back into the title race.
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh has thanked club captain James Tavernier for his years of service to the Ibrox club.
Tavernier announced he would depart the club after 11 years on Wednesday.
The announcement coming just days after saying he was not looking ahead of this season in a BBC interview.
Andrew Cavenagh praises James Tavernier
The American businessman posted his message via Rangers’ official social media channels.
“On behalf of everyone at the club, I would like to put on record our immense thanks and gratitude to James Tavernier for his phenomenal length of service and countless achievements across his 11 years at Rangers,” he wrote.
“It is a real rarity for any player in modern football to stay at any one club for so long, let alone play such a key role in each and every season.
“He departs as a club legend, and his outstanding contributions will never be forgotten by anyone at the club, nor our supporters.
“As James referred to in his departure announcement, however, he hasn’t left yet, and in these next five games, there is everything to play for.
“Thank you, Tav.”
Cavenagh becomes the latest in a long line of current and former prominent Rangers figures to send messages of support to the 34-year-old defender.
This shows not only how immense a figure Tavernier is to the club, but also just how invested the chairman is.
What the James Tavernier statement means to Rangers
That statement is not just ceremonial.
It is one of someone who knows the club after a short time at the helm.
It is a statement of presence.
In publicly leading the acknowledgment of Tavernier’s legacy, he positions himself not as a distant custodian, but as an engaged figurehead.
Learning from mistakes
His early structural decisions, the appointments of Patrick Stewart as CEO, Kevin Thelwell as sporting director and Russell Martin as head coach, were intended to reset the club’s direction.
Instead, they exposed misalignment at every level, with performances and results failing to meet the baseline expectations at Rangers.
The decisive removal of all three marked a pivot.
It signalled that misjudgements would not be allowed to linger.
Since then the chairman has been prepared to become more hands on at Ibrox.
Read Rangers analysis
In Danny Rohl, there is now a sense of coherence that had been absent.
The team has regained structure, intensity and, critically, belief.
What once looked like a season drifting towards irrelevance has been pulled back into contention.
Rangers are now firmly re-established in the title race with five games to go.
The early months of his tenure have been a learning curve.
Mistakes have been made, but more importantly, they have been confronted.
That decisive action may allow the departing Tavernier to sign off on the highest of highs.
