IT is unlikely John Greig was the slightest bit put out when the Rangers scoring record he had held for nearly 50 years was finally broken at the weekend.

The downward header James Tavernier netted on the stroke of half-time against Alloa on Saturday took his haul of goals for the season to 15 – the most a full-back at Ibrox has netted in the modern era.

The Englishman sought out Greig, the honorary life president who had taken to the field to hand out the Ladbrokes Championship winners’ medals, immediately after the final whistle.

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“He was the first person I wanted to see,” said Tavernier. “It was my intention to get a goal before the game and beat the record at home and it was fantastic to do that. I’m really proud of it.

“I gave him a little bit of stick before the game and told him: ‘I’m coming for your record’. He responded by giving me stick about my penalty against Celtic (Tavernier had missed his spot kick in his side’s Scottish Cup semi-final shoot-out win at Hampden six days earlier) and I took it on the chin. I spoke to him afterwards and he gave me a handshake and congratulated me.”

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It was no surprise the man once voted The Greatest Ever Ranger was happy to engage in a bit of light-hearted joshing with the player despite the tally he recorded way back in the 1967/68 campaign being surpassed.

He purposely stayed away from Ibrox for several years – apart from when the Govan Stand was renamed in honour of his late friend and former team mate Sandy Jardine back in 2014 - in protest at the various regimes in charge.

The 73-year-old will, then, have been content to see a player flourishing in such a positive manner, the team enjoying success and a packed stadium partying after so many seasons of struggle, uncertainty and underachievement.

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Tavernier, who has a chance to plunder more goals in remaining games against Livingston tomorrow evening, St. Mirren on Saturday and Hibs next month, also revealed that Greig had helped him to make such an impression since signing for just £200,000 from Wigan last summer.

“I’ve had chats with him every time we’ve had a game and he’s someone you really want to listen to because he has so much experience and is one of the main men here,” he said.

“To be able to take things from him, with him being a full-back himself, is a dream. Everything he says I take into account and it helps me in my game. I’ve looked into what he did as well and spoken to others around the club, like our kit man Jimmy Bell.”

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But quite what the Rangers legend thought of the performance and result against a part-time club which had been consigned to relegation from the second tier weeks before on the day a crowd of 50,349 turned up to celebrate securing a place in the top flight is another matter entirely.

Mark Warburton’s side gifted their opponents a soft goal, something they had done twice in a midweek defeat to Scottish Cup final rivals Hibs at Easter Road, and failed to fully recover.

Yes, it was, with the Championship trophy and promotion to the Premiership having been secured earlier this month, a meaningless game and therefore entirely understandable if a slight edge had disappeared from their play.

Yet, the expectations at Rangers are so high, the standards demanded so great, that there were still some rumblings of discontent. A ferocious competitor like Greig will certainly have been far from impressed with the showing.

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The defensive display should definitely be a concern. Dom Ball, the on-loan Spurs centre half who has excelled since being transformed into a holding midfielder, will miss the cup final with Hibs next month. He was left out of the starting line-up against Alloa and his absence was keenly felt.

Andy Halliday dropped back and reprised the role he had performed at the start of the season. But his slack passback was pounced on by Michael Duffy who beat Wes Foderingham with a well-taken shot.

Was it a taste of what is to come when Rangers face Hibs at the National Stadium on May 21? Tavernier was adamant that it was not. He has faith in whoever is selected that day being able to perform. But he did admit there would have to be a stark improvement if they are to complete what would be an unprecedented treble.

"The gaffer's changed the team throughout the season and the players who have come in are more than capable,” he said. “He obviously wanted to rest a few on Saturday, including Dom, and give the other boys a chance. Whoever replaces them are more than capable.

"We were disappointed with the Hibs defeat - we conceded two sloppy goals and weren't effective enough in the final third. Today, we gave another goal away which gave them a platform to sit back and defend.

“You shoot yourself in the foot when you do something like that. We need to learn not to give goals away and we must work harder in the final third."

Despite the 1-1 draw, the Rangers fans, players, staff and management team enjoyed the presentation of the Championship trophy. And no wonder. There have been dark days during the last four years when the very existence of the Glasgow club appeared in jeopardy.

There are still, despite a board of genuine supporters with the best interests of the club at heart being in control, considerable challenges, both on and off the field, lying ahead. But victories must be enjoyed when they come along and nobody had any difficulty doing so at the weekend.