From a perceived lack of leadership to suspect defending, James Tavernier has had to face his fair share of criticism - much of it unfair - during his 11 years at Rangers.

The list of things some supporters have attempted to lambast him for has at times been absurd. Facing scrutiny for treating himself to a chip shop takeaway comes to mind.

What cannot be disputed, however, is the captain's relentless attacking output from the right of the Ibrox side's defence.

No matter the manager - and there have been a few - Tavernier has continually produced.

In 562 Rangers games, the defender has scored 144 goals. It is silly stuff.

The instant counterpoint to try to diminish that statistic will sound something like: 'But they're all penalties.'

Granted, just over half of them have come from the spot, but when you throw in 148 assists, the 34-year-old's numbers start to look outrageous.

Even in his farewell season, Tavernier is currently Rangers' top scorer with 14 goals. Factor in his six assists and he has contributed to 20 goals this term.

For most other full-backs, that would be a career-best campaign. For Tavernier, it has become his standard.

As well as becoming a dead-ball specialist - from stunning free-kicks to deadly set-piece deliveries - he has developed a knack for timing runs and arriving at the back post in the fashion a forward would be proud of.

In five of his past 10 campaigns, he has netted at least 15 times. In one of them he managed 17. In three straight seasons he scored 19, 18 and 18. Across 2023-24 he managed 24.

And that is before you count up the goals he has provided for his team-mates.

Since his first season playing in Scotland's top flight, nobody has scored more than his tally of 83 Premiership goals. Former team-mate Alfredo Morelos and Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland are next in line, both strikers.

In fact, pull that start date all the way back to the 2000-01 campaign and only nine players have netted more Scottish top-tier goals than Tavernier.

He is equal with joint record holder Ally McCoist on 21 Rangers European goals. He is only 38 goals away from being included in Rangers' top 10 all-time record scorers.

He ended the 2021-22 Europa League campaign - which concluded with Rangers losing the final - as the competition's top scorer for the season.

And perhaps most staggering of all, with 152 goals overall in his career, he is the highest-scoring defender in the history of British football.

Tavernier has often been the fall guy at Rangers, which perhaps comes with the territory of wearing the armband at Ibrox, but these are numbers and longevity that would see most forwards leave as legends.

For Tavernier, his status as a legend is a touchy subject for some and a source of debate for others. A second Premiership title would go some way to ending that, though.