Rangers’ Season Ends in Disarray: Tavernier’s Non-Farewell and Hibs' Triumph

Rangers’ season ended with a whimper and a rupture. On a night meant to be James Tavernier’s long goodbye, Ibrox watched its captain step away from the squad, its team lose a fourth straight game, and its manager stand alone in front of an angry support trying to explain what comes next.

Hibernian walked away with a 2-1 win and all three points. Rangers were left with boos, questions and a farewell that never really happened.

Tavernier’s non-farewell

The drama started before a ball was kicked. James Tavernier, 11 years a Ranger, was told by Danny Röhl he would not start. The expectation was that the captain would not even be at the stadium.

Instead, he emerged before kick-off, emotional, to receive a presentation from club legend John Greig, a nod to more than a decade of service and a summer departure that now feels even more complicated. Then, having withdrawn himself from the squad, he disappeared from the matchday picture altogether.

Röhl later admitted he had planned to give Tavernier minutes from the bench, and made it clear he did not appreciate the defender’s decision to stay away from the team. On a night built for tribute, the club’s longest-serving modern figure never set foot on the pitch.

The focus then shifted to the football. What followed only deepened the sense of a team unravelling.

Boyle strikes, Sallinger stands tall

The stadium was already subdued by three post-split defeats that had killed the title challenge. An early Hibs goal turned the volume down further.

Rangers actually started with intent. Youssef Chermiti forced Raphael Sallinger into a sharp save with a header, a warning that the home side might still rouse themselves for their captain’s send-off in spirit, if not in selection.

Hibs answered that hint of purpose with a cutting move. Jordan Obita found space on the left and whipped a cross into the box. Martin Boyle ghosted into a pocket of room and thrashed a volley under Jack Butland from 10 yards. One chance, one ruthless finish. Ibrox sank.

Rangers did respond, at least in terms of territory and chances. Thelo Aasgaard drew another strong save from Sallinger. Dujon Sterling lashed over. Chermiti was denied again, this time by the goalkeeper’s legs as he closed in on goal.

Sallinger kept Hibs in front almost single-handedly. He tipped away a Connor Barron drive from 25 yards that looked destined for the top corner, then dealt with a curling effort from Aasgaard and held a strike from Mikey Moore. Rangers were creating enough. They just couldn’t beat the man in green.

Aasgaard’s moment, then a late sting

Rangers needed something out of the ordinary to break Hibs’ resistance. Aasgaard provided it.

On the edge of the box, just before half-time, the Norwegian stepped up to a free-kick and ripped it into the top corner. Power, precision, no chance for Sallinger this time. Ibrox finally had a moment to cling to, a reminder of what this team can produce when clarity meets technique.

The equaliser should have set the platform. After the interval, Rangers pushed again. Barron and Chermiti both shot wide. Bojan Miovski, pouncing on a loose ball in the area, should have scored but ballooned his effort over. Each miss tightened the tension.

Hibs sensed it. They grew bolder as the game drifted towards its conclusion. Butland had to bail Rangers out with a double save, first from Dane Scarlett, then from Felix Passlack, after Ante Suto had already hit the side netting.

The warning went unheeded. The punishment came in the final minute of normal time.

Passlack burst free down the right and drove a low ball into the six-yard box. Scarlett, on loan from Tottenham, attacked the space and forced it over the line. It was scruffy, but it was decisive. As the ball crossed the line, the home crowd’s frustration finally broke into full-throated boos.

Hibs celebrated a winner that underlined their late-season surge. Rangers stood frozen, beaten at home again, staring at a fourth straight defeat.

Röhl faces the anger

At full-time, there was no lap of honour for Tavernier. No orchestrated farewell. Instead, Röhl walked towards the stands, hands out, trying to address a fanbase that has watched its season collapse in the space of four games.

He spoke of standards. Of a “strong cut”. Of new demands on and off the pitch. He accepted the anger and promised change, insisting the club “cannot accept this in the future anymore”.

On Tavernier, his tone hardened. He stressed that he is the manager, that he makes the decisions, that mutual respect is non-negotiable. He revealed his surprise that Tavernier had chosen to stay away from the squad after being told he would not start, and made it clear he did not agree with that choice.

The relationship between club, captain and coach, once expected to end with a warm ovation and a tidy goodbye, now feels frayed and unresolved.

Hibs eye Europe, Rangers seek a reset

The consequences of the night stretch beyond one awkward farewell.

For David Gray and Hibernian, this was a statement win. They finished stronger, showed resilience under pressure and now know that victory over Motherwell at Easter Road will lock in fourth place. Leith will be lively for that one.

For Rangers, the picture is darker. They travel to Falkirk on the final day desperate to avoid a fifth straight defeat and an end-of-season run that would be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

The title is gone. The form has collapsed. The captain’s goodbye has turned into a flashpoint. Röhl has promised “strong changes” and “new standards”.

The question now is simple: does this feel like a blip at the end of a long campaign, or the first crack in something much bigger at Ibrox?