13 May 2019 22:19:45
Was reading another post and the chat was about how Tav was motm on Sunday and how he was the best rb since Ricksen.

Personally I never rated Ricksen at rb - always thought he was a bombscare in that position. But thought he was different class when McCleish moved him into midfield.

But it got me thinking that I couldn't actually think of a stand-out rb during my time watching Rangers (from 1986). Maybe Stevens or Porrini or Vidmar or Hutton? I'm genuinely not sure.

So I basically thought I would ask everyone for their personal favourite rb to try and gauge where Tav ranks? (Don't think we need a poll? )


1.) 13 May 2019
13 May 2019 22:34:11
You are not sure if Stevens was a stand out right back? You can't be serious.


2.) 13 May 2019
13 May 2019 23:29:47
Gary Stevens for me
Great defender
I think Tav is better at going forward but Stevens was a better defender
The game has changed a fair bit as well so that needs to be taken into consideration I suppose.


3.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 05:53:08
Gary stevens was absolutely superb at going forward and defending. The best 2 right full backs i've seen at ibrox undoubtedly were sandy jardine and gary stevens! that's not to say i don't rate our captain james tavernier, because i do and have continually backed him on here.


4.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 06:10:13
Rsfger and scoop, thought Stevens was an excellent defender but not in an attacking sense.

Do we need to go back 30 odd years to find a better rb than Tav?

Alex clelland was good/ dependable but not necessarily great.

Think there have been loads of rb’s that are better defenders than Tav (in fact the only one that wasn’t was the Greek boy arygiou) - but Tav influences games more and more for a positive reason than his bad defending.


5.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 06:27:27
For the record ricksen was not a great right back for us. He had some shockers played his best football for us when he moved into centre mid.


6.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 06:47:01
Zikos I watched gary stevens playing for rangers and can totally guarantee you, that he was an attacking, overlapping right full back mate. He was a very good defender and terrific all round full back!


7.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 07:16:24
Gary Stevens it is then! But where would Tav rank.

Although he drives me mental at times I think I would have him in the team before the likes of Porrini, Hutton etc. Obviously not for his defending but for his attacking contribution.


8.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 07:25:40
Hutton was great for a short while before we sold him, Numan also first class at LB! Great times!


9.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 07:50:49
Claudio Reyna was great at right back but no one I remember was better at going forward than tav who's defending has improved a lot.


10.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 07:53:52
Gary Stevens is the best RB I’ve saw at Rangers. He had just shy of 50 England Caps. Tav, Ricksen, Clelland no in his league, no even a debate about it.


11.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 08:26:56
Twas I and the enlightened, who agreed with me, that nominated Tav. (MOTM) . Isn't it exciting though guys to see 5 or 6 of our players nominated for that accolade even "The Grinch" sorry I meant Coldo must be delighted with that. just for the record I only mentioned Tav. in my Flanagan post because L17 Mac asked what I consider as Rangers captain material. Well that and to annoy you of course. Gary Stevens was indeed very good Dad had just started to take me to games back then. I know I. m an optimist I know I'm enthusiastic about my team even when our team was/ is poor I try to look for the positives and over the last 7 or 8 years sometimes they have been few. SG's analysis of where we are is spot on we are ending this season in a lot better place than last year.


12.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 09:24:16
Sandy in Royal blue and Gary Stevens for me. Tav has a great record of goals and assists right enough, and is quite underrated by some on here. Was at Drybrough Cup final in 1979 (age 12) when DavieCooper scored that amazing goal, but Sandy also scored an absolutely amazing goal that day too. Definitely Sandy for me. Rightly immortalised at Ibrox, a true legend.


13.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 09:24:20
Cant believe not even a mention of David Robertson?


14.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 09:24:33
Was always a fan of porrini myself.


15.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 09:47:46
C of ibrox that’s because Robertson was a left back and the discussion is about rbs.


16.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 10:10:19
My bad lol.


17.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 11:55:48
Having to wade in here to sort out all this nonsense above.

1. Reyna was a centre mid. He covered right back occasionally due to injuries.

2. Porrini was a decent tackler and defender but was a nightmare with the ball at his feet, zero technical ability. He was like the mirror image of Tav.

3. Gary Stevens was top, top class. If he was around today he would be playing for one of the Manchester or London clubs. Don’t underestimate the quality of player we were able to sign for the ten years or so from late 80s to late 90s.

4. Alec Cleland was reliable but nothing special. Never even managed a Scotland cap at a time when Scotland weren’t blessed with great full backs.

5. Hutton was streets ahead of Tav. Look at what he had achieved by the same age. Whittaker at his peak in the run to Manchester was also ahead of him.

6. Ricksen was not the bomb scare some are making out. He had a ropey start to his Ibrox career but went on to be a club legend. Yes, he was better when he moved into midfield but he was a good right back once he had settled, he was in the Dutch squad at a time when they had some great players.

In terms of the Souness era and beyond, Tav ranks behind Stevens, Hutton, Ricksen and Whittaker (in that order for me) . All international players who have played either English top flight, champions league or both.


18.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 13:05:51
I'm sure Robertson had a spell at right back later on in his career.


19.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 14:18:47
Not for Rangers he didn’t. Left back his entire time at the club. Great understanding with Laudrup down the left. Amazing pace and hard in the tackle. Final ball wasn’t very consistent and wasn’t always the most composed in defence. Great player, but basically a better version of Tav. Numan was our best left back of the era by a million miles.


20.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 19:31:43
Sorry wag man but I can’t agree with you, Ricksen was terrible at Rb, Whittaker was better but thought he was better than what he was and got continually dispossessed. Hutton was brilliant for us bombing down the right but his final ball was absolutely god awful. Which Tav’s isn’t and both are as good at defending as each other. So Tav shades it for me.


21.) 14 May 2019
14 May 2019 22:59:50
I don't think Ricksen was terrible nor do i think he was good a RB, like Zikos he came good when moved into midfield roll and when BF moved on he ran the midfield. in a way it was like BF didn't want him to play well, only my opinion though.


22.) 15 May 2019
15 May 2019 10:34:54
Zikos - I honestly can’t argue football with someone who thinks Tav is better than Ricksen, a Dutch international and Hutton, who went for £8m and has played most of his career in the English top flight or top half of the championship.

Apart from set pieces, Hutton and Whittaker did everything Tav does. Hutton was unreal his last season with us, absolutely phenomenal. Whittaker was brilliant for us in the run to Manchester, played everywhere. Ricksen ran through walls for this club and became a captain that actually inspired his team to win things.

Tav has achieved nothing and is a far worse defender than any of those mentioned and by his age they all had multiple trophies, European games and international caps behind them.


23.) 15 May 2019
15 May 2019 11:19:08
I feel like people on here have memories shorter than ten years and succumb to recency bias. You get the feeling that if Zidane used to play for us we would have folk on here saying “was too casual on the ball for me, much prefer Ryan Jack”.

Dig out the old DVDs and watch again lads. There are very few (if any) players in the current team up to the standards of old. That’s not saying they are bad players, we’ve some great talent now, but it’s night and day with some of the people who came before.


24.) 15 May 2019
15 May 2019 17:09:10
Swagman - you are the one with the memory issues! If you can't remember how often Whittaker was dispossessed, if you can't remeber that Hutton couldn't cross a ball (At Rangers, Tottenham and even now) then you have might have issues! And the only reason they have caps is well because they play for a rather S@#t international team!

As for Ricksen - he was technically good and turned out to be a really good central midfielder, but again you have memory issues if you think he was good at RB. Not on the same planet as Numan on the other flank!