Rangers need to solve their Steven Davis problem – Our Viewmanager Steven Gerrard has made four new signings over the summer as he looks to bolster his squad for the defence of their Scottish Premiership title this season – but the Ibrox boss still needs to find a solution to the problem posed by Steven Davis.
Now, before anyone thinks we’re about to go off on an ill-judged rant about the Northern Irish legend it needs to be made clear that Davis is arguably one of Rangers‘ most reliable performers.
And that in itself is part of the problem.
Davis will line up in Yerevan on Thursday night against Alashkert in the Europa League, likely playing all 90 minutes, before the veteran does it all over again less than 72 hours later when Rangers host Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday afternoon.
But as he rapidly approaches his 37th birthday, the reliance on Davis to play two games a week only underscores the importance he has to how Rangers play.
By the time the calendar changes over from August to September, Davis is likely to have played the full 90 minutes in eight of Rangers’ nine games this month.
Only Connor Goldson has played more minutes so far this season for Rangers, playing every minute so far, with Davis and skipper James Tavernier tied on 540 minutes each so far.
While Juninho Bacuna, John Lundstram and Nnamdi Ofoborh have arrived at Rangers this summer, none of the three appear to be the type of player who will be Davo’s long-term replacement in the engine room for Gerrard’s side – while of the existing midfielders at Ibrox, arguably only Stephen Kelly fits the bill as a potential replacement.
With Davis having only a few seasons left in him, Steven Gerrard and Ross Wilson really need to be looking at finding a replacement for Davis before too long.
Replacing such a talented midfielder is hardly going to be easy though but it is clear Rangers aren’t going to be able to rely on Davis to keep digging them out of holes for too much longer.
Davis is still, comfortably, one of the best midfielders in Scottish football just now but sooner rather than later Rangers are going to be left with a massive hole in midfield when he decides it is time to hang his boots up.
Despite still looking as fit as he did 13 years ago when he joined Rangers, that day is going to come pretty soon and Rangers simply can’t afford to be unprepared when it does.
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