Keith Jackson shares what Clement should do now with 5/10 Rangers player who lost the ball 15 times v Hearts | OneFootball

Rangers skipper James Tavernier was included in the starting line-up against Hearts at Ibrox on Sunday.

The Gers skipper came on late in Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Olympiakos, and many pundits suggested that he has dropped way down the pecking order at Ibrox.

Barry Ferguson suggested that Philippe Clement is probably doing the right thing by using the 33-year-old defender properly, and he doesn’t see any big issue with it.

Tavernier was heavily linked with a move away from Rangers in the summer window, but a potential exit didn’t materialise.

The Bears skipper is a club legend, and his numbers for goals and assists are simply outstanding. At the same time, he has been really poor this season, and pundits have criticised him heavily at times.

Cyriel Dessers has given his full backing to Tavernier, saying what he has done for the club is amazing.

Is the situation getting bad to worse for the Rangers skipper?

Keith Jackson suggests that “absolutely” the situation is getting worse for Tavernier.

He picked up an assist against Hearts on Sunday, but apart from that, he was so poor. The Daily Record gave him a 5/10 rating for his lacklustre performance.

Tavernier is no longer the influential player he once was, and Jackson says that Clement must make a decision now on what to do with him and stick with the plan.

He said to the Daily Record: “Absolutely. Clement should make a decision and stick with it. And he should be doing so with one eye on next month’s League Cup Final and the prospect of attempting to deal with Daizen Maeda.”

The Gers defender lost the ball 15 times on Sunday, and Rangers will get brutally punished if he encores a similar sort of performance against Celtic next month.

He made only one clearance, compared to 11 by fellow defender John Souttar.

In terms of passing, Tavernier only managed 72% accuracy and couldn’t produce any accurate crosses.

With Dujon Sterling making great progress, Clement must drop Tavernier from the starting line-up, especially in big matches.