Dave King has strongly condemned the abuse directed towards Rangers captain James Tavernier in the aftermath of the Old Firm defeat to Celtic.

And the former chairman insists current Ibrox chief John Bennett is ‘devastated’ by the malaise that Rangers find themselves in on and off the park this season.

Tensions amongst a simmering support have threatened to boil over following the 3-0 loss that Philippe Clement’s side suffered at Parkhead last weekend. Rangers are five points adrift in the Premiership title race and have missed out on Champions League football following the defeat to Dynamo Kyiv last month.

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Chairman Bennett and Clement have come in for criticism in recent weeks but Tavernier bore the brunt of the abuse after the derby defeat. The skipper was confronted by a furious fan as the players left Ibrox last Sunday, while Clement was also involved in heated scenes.

King knows better than most the nature of the Rangers support after leading the boardroom coup in 2015 and serving as chairman for several seasons. And he has called out those who have directed their anger at key Ibrox figures and insisted fans must show their loyalty during these difficult moments.

“It is incredibly disappointing to hear that a small minority of supporters are letting their anger temporarily overcome them to the point of directing personal abuse at our players,” King said in a statement to the Rangers Review.

“We are all immensely disappointed at the performance of our team and its decline since title 55. That, however, is not the fault of the present team or the individual players who were approached to play for the Club (not the other way round) and who are mostly doing their best.

 “We all judge player performance - that is part of being an emotional supporter. We wish slower players to be faster, we wish less creative players to be more creative, etc. Ultimately it is the balancing of many factors that create a successful team.  

“That is why player recruitment should assess multiple aspects, inter alia, the player’s technical ability, temperament, character (very important at Rangers), leadership, and team compatibility.

“Different skills sets are required to ensure a balance in any successful team. Any player signed by Rangers must assume that he passed that standard and thereafter must perform in accordance with his abilities and the manager’s instructions for any given game. Individual players cannot be held accountable if the combined result of recruitment and team preparation results in poor performance.

 “Rangers supporters are loyal supporters. Turning on our captain, who has been 100% loyal to Rangers and (memories are short) repeatedly saved us in key games for a decade, is the opposite of loyalty and I hope that most supporters will join me in condemning such behaviour.  Supporter anger should not be directed at our team.

“Our Club finds itself in a largely self-inflicted decline but turning on our own players is not the Rangers way. I know John Bennett is devastated by current events and is working immensely hard behind the scenes. We have a challenging period ahead and need to pull together to get through it.”