Former Rangers captain James Tavernier is 'struggling and nearing the end of his career' according to former Israel international Gil Vermouth, following Maccabi Tel Aviv's derby cup final defeat.
Tavernier, who turned 35, spent 11 years at Rangers, making 565 appearances and scoring 144 goals, before making a surprise move to Maccabi Tel Aviv after leaving Glasgow in the summer.
Derby Cup Final Defeat
He was part of the side managed by Kenny Miller, which lost the Toto Cup, Israel's equivalent of the League Cup, 3-2 to bitter rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv in the final.
Tavernier faced heavy criticism from Vermouth, who won 28 caps for his country, with comments similar to those aimed at him during his final days at Rangers.
Criticism from Pundit
Vermouth said: "We have talked about James Tavernier's CV previously, but we can now see that he is nearing the end of his career. He is struggling, he is not agile, it is not what we saw in the clips from when he was at Rangers."
He added: "He was up against Omri Altman, who scored again for the fourth game in a row. Altman's forte is not speed and quickness, but he looked like prime Franck Ribery against Tavernier. He is not showing what we expected from him when he arrived at Maccabi."
Manager's Defence
Maccabi made the defender the highest paid player last summer, but he has faced criticism during a lacklustre spell.
Boss Miller offered a defence of the former Rangers skipper to Israeli media. When asked about Tavernier, he said: "I didn't talk to him about it specifically, and there's no point. We're all happy he's here."
