Butland and Tav Captaincy chaos as Rangers fans go crazy | OneFootball

So it’s the morning after the James Tavernier Jack Butland Rangers chaos of the night before.

The short version:

The story broke in the early evening that Rangers manager Philippe Clement had internally informed Jack Butland he was to be new captain – multiple credible sources went public with this story, and it was deduced that this confirmed current Rangers captain James Tavernier’s exit.

He wouldn’t remain at Ibrox having been deposed of the captaincy, surely.

Then the longer bit:

The story further clarified that the credible sources had either themselves been duped or this story was a classic misinformation because while it wasn’t strictly outright false, the truth, as always, lay in the details.

In simple terms, Jack Butland has been widely understood as the successor to James Tavernier, internally confirmed a long time ago.

The issue of the ‘lost in translation’ side is that most clubs do this as it is – they appoint ‘successor’ captains in the event of the current one leaving. It’s to ensure a smooth transition should the current captain be sold or leave, rather than a last-minute panic to try and find a new leader without any planning having been in place.

This story got warped in the airways last night, and was Chinese-whispered into Butland having been actually told he was to be the new captain next season even if Tavernier remained. Which then led to ‘Tav must be leaving then’.

Only for the ITKs who got duped to then backtrack on the tale and clarify that Butland was only going to be captain if Tavernier left.

In short, there was absolutely no story at all, but one little misunderstanding and hey presto, Rangers have a new captain, and Tavernier’s gone to Saudi Arabia.

This is not to say Tav isn’t going – we understand that the likelihood is very high indeed – the offer is in and he’s still thinking about it. A big decision.

But Butland being new captain isn’t quite there yet, so let’s all calm down and Follow On.