He grew up on a council estate in Leeds, the son of an often outspoken single mother.
So it’s fair to say James Tavernier had grown thick skin long before he ever stepped foot in Glasgow’s hot house football environment. Nine years on, he’s still there, leading Rangers from the front and picking up all manner of personal accolades along the way in spite of being regularly reminded that he’s not captained the Ibrox club to anywhere near as many trophies as would be expected of him.
Yesterday, then, was just another one of those milestones, as Tavernier was named on PFA Scotland’s Player of the Year shortlist along with team-mate Jack Butland, Celtic’s Matt O’Riley and Hearts skipper Lawrence Shankland. And all at a moment in time when some of his own supporters would happily see the back of him. For someone who comes under such ferocious fire so regularly, the 32-year-old continues to master the art of confounding those critics. And that’s very possibly because he considers himself as one of them.
Tavernier said: “I’m never happy. I’m always critical of myself. I remember when I was young, my mum was always critical of me and I’ve inherited that. I’ve always been critical of myself and looked to try to improve each season.
“This is a landmark season for myself with 24 goals which beats my previous record. But next season I want to get more, and I want to get more assists. I just want to improve myself on a personal level and continue to get better and better.
“I’m never happy to stand still or happy with where I am. I always want to better myself all the time. But there is no one who can say anything about me that’s more critical of how I criticise myself.
“I obviously listen to the people closest to me, but I know my levels and I know where I need to be. I also know where I need to improve and will strive towards that. I just want to improve the team.
“So to receive this nomination obviously means a lot - coming from your fellow professionals who you play against week in week out. It’s a huge honour and it’s testament of how I want to keep pushing myself to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be. But it also comes down to my team-mates as well.”
And yet - despite his huge personal contribution year after year - Tavernier knows there is a target painted on his back which comes with pulling on the armband. In six years as Rangers captain Tavernier has lifted one Premiership title, as well as one Scottish Cup and he completed the set earlier this season when he got his hands on the League Cup too.
With two more trophies still up for grabs over the course of the next four weeks, he knows the best way to silence those who cast doubt on his leadership. He went on: “It’s a great opportunity, but as a captain you can only really focus on yourself first and try to perform the best you can.
“You want your team to follow those steps, and we are in a great place at the minute. We’re competing for two trophies, so we are going to go all the way to the end fighting for it, and hopefully that will take us where we want to be.”
But Tavernier knows Scottish football’s talking shop doesn’t stay quiet for long regardless. He said: “In modern day football there are a lot of opinions.
“Compared to how it was, if you look back in the day, before social media, there are a lot more opinions out there now. Having that responsibility as the club captain, you have to have big shoulders and accept whatever is going to come your way.
“For me, I have always been strong-minded with a strong character and I feel I can take everything on. It won’t affect me because I know where I need to be at. I can take the criticism on and keep pushing myself because I’ll never shy away from anything. I will always try and make myself better.
“If I can take all the criticism for the team I’m fine with that so the other lads can stay fully focused on the job. Everyone deals with it in their own way but, as I say, I’ve always been strong-minded and I can accept it.
“I’ve got social media and I can read social media. It’s just the upbringing that I’ve had, I had a strong upbringing. A single mum, coming from a rough council estate in Leeds, it always brings that fire in you and gives you more independence and makes you level-headed about what you need to be.
“I’m not saying that’s not in other ways of being brought up but it’s made me really strong mentally from when I was young and that has carried me right through to being an adult, working on that and just bettering myself. I always want to show what I’m capable of, and sometimes that might not please everyone.
“You can be the DJ in the changing room and you can’t please everyone with one song, so you just try to do your best, and that is what I always try to do for myself.
“I try to lead by example, and try to play my best and be the best version of myself on the pitch and off the pitch.”
These next four weeks then could yet prove to be a significant crossroads in Tavernier’s nine year long Rangers relationship.
