'Intent': James Tavernier wades in on key Rangers-Celtic flashpoint as proud Danny Rohl plays it cool
Key decisions analyses by Ibrox captain and manager
Captain James Tavernier believes Rangers have only themselves to blame for losing to Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final - but he questioned referee Nick Walsh’s decision not to send off opposition defender Auston Trusty after he kicked teammate and goalkeeper Jack Butland on the head.
Tavernier was left disappointed that the Celtic centre-half was only shown a yellow card on the stroke of half time after he made contact with the goalkeeper’s head after gathering a loose ball. Walsh brandished a yellow card and the incident was not referred to an on-field check by VAR.
The Trusty flashpoint occurred not long after Rangers midfielder Thelo Aasgaard was shown a straight red card on 38 minutes after a high challenge on Celtic’s Anthony Ralston caught him in the upper thigh area and while Trusty did not connect with Butland with the same force, Tavernier feels consistency needs to be applied to all decisions.
Rangers were a goal down at that point to Johnny Kenny’s opener, only to rally through Tavernier’s 81st-minute penalty. Celtic overpowered the ten men in extra time thanks to strikes from Callum McGregor and Callum Osmand.
“A decision like that [Aasgaard], fair enough,” said Tavernier afterward, “but then decisions throughout the game, you have to carry the same approach. Jack gets stood on the head, it has to be levelled off.
“He just said it was with the force of the stamp - but it’s still the intent. The intent is a boot on his head so no matter how hard or soft, it’s still his head. That’s obviously their job but there’s no excuses for us today.
“But that’s no excuse for losing to them. We’ve got to own it as players, but hopefully the fans see the fighting spirit towards the end. In the final third we have got to be more clinical.”
Rohl stays out of refereeing decisions
Rangers head coach Danny Rohl refused to get embroiled in the controversial refereeing decisions. As well as the Trusty-Butland incident and Aasgaard’s red card, there were calls for Ralston to be shown a second yellow card when Djeidi Gassama’s effort was blocked by the defender’s elbow in conceding a penalty.
On Aasgaard, Rohl commented: “I haven’t watched the red card back yet but that’s the ref. It’s not my part to speak about this. My focus is always on myself. I said before the game, I won’t speak about other managers, other teams or refs.”
On the Ralston handball, he said: “I think there’s a rule. If it’s a handball, a block and a pen - it could be a yellow card. But there are so many rules about handball in the box and I don’t know everything.”
And on Trusty, he added: “We can speak about all the single, individual decisions during the game. But that’s not my part, I won’t speak about this.”
Rohl was proud of his players’ efforts but wants them to bring greater consistency and ruthlessness to their play. They return to action on Thursday night when they host Roma in the Europa League.
“At first, there’s disappointment there in the dressing-room and I felt it,” continued Rohl, who was experiencing the Old Firm match for the first time. “With ten men, that’s a good signal that my team is disappointed.
“After the red card we were on the front foot and brave. That was also how I acted at half-time with the team - we put one more offensive player in and changed the shape to 4-3-2. We had two guys up front to put pressure on the ball and we attacked them on the last line. I felt in the space in behind we’d get chances.
“For me, the equaliser was fully deserved. Of course, the opponent will have some moments. But what we put into it, how brave we were, how we ran - it was outstanding for me. Of course at the end, the result at the end is 3-1 so we’re disappointed to be out of the cup.
Rangers ‘need consistency’
“Consistency is the next step. The last two results went in our direction but today after 3-1 everything isn’t nice. It’s still a defeat. But I saw us do a lot of things right to take something. After 90 minutes, I really felt we could win this game even with ten men. Our supporters were there for us and created a great atmosphere.
“I’ve said there will be a few setbacks on our journey. This wasn’t a nice defeat but even today I saw a huge step forward from a team who didn’t care if they had 11 or ten men. They believed in what they were doing and what direction we’re going in.
“We had four times one v one with their goalkeeper with ten men. But it’s small steps. I’m convinced if we carry on in this direction, we’ll get a lot of wins in the future. That’s the job of myself and my coaches, to go in that direction. We’ll show them what was good, what we have to improve - and then we’ll carry on.
“We have to be more clinical in both boxes to win games, that’s crucial. On Wednesday night we had a performance with not so many chances against us. Of course, we have to improve. But at the moment, I’m focusing on the parts where we’ve taken big steps forward.”
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