Milestone man Davis makes Rangers tick, says ex-ibrox ace Rae
FORMER Ibrox midfielder Alex Rae has hailed Steven Davis as the “orchestrator” of Rangers as the 36-year-old prepares to make his 300th appearance in a Light Blue jersey against Motherwell on Sunday.
Rae told ten10podcasts.com: “What a terrific servant he has been to the game in general, and he has had a remarkable career at Rangers as well.
“He is about to hit another milestone and it is great to have him back at Rangers because he has most certainly brought a level of performance and standards that we have been used to over decades. He is pivotal, he is like the orchestrator in the middle of the park.
“He pulls the strings and he is one guy. If I was a younger midfielder like (Glen) Kamara or (Joe) Aribo in and around Rangers, I would look at this guy, look at what he brings to the table.
“He is a model professional, to still be performing at his age and what he has done in the game, a record-breaking 124 caps for Northern Ireland. He has been brilliant.
“I’ll be honest with you, when he first came back I had my reservations, and it took him four, five months to get up to speed and there were question marks, but my God has he not hit the ground running this season?
“They have got six midfielders in at Rangers at the moment, but you have to say he is the number one starter.
“He slows the game down, speeds the game up and always has a brilliant knack of being in the right place when teams are counter-attacking.
“I think he is vital to Steven Gerrard and the way he plays with the full-backs bombing forward.”
Meanwhile, Rangers say they have no interest in Coventry midfielder Gustavo Hamer.
The 23-year-old Brazilian-born midfielder has impressed for
Coventry since a move from Dutch side PEC Zwolle last year, and sources in the West Midlands claimed he was on the Scottish Premiership leaders’ radar.
However, an Ibrox source said: “There’s nothing in this at all.”
The player is not on any list of potential targets that manager Steven Gerrard and sporting director Ross Wilson are monitoring.
Rangers hosted Coventry in pre-season last July, winning 2-0 at Ibrox, with Hamer playing in the first half.
Brazilian-born Hamer moved to the Netherlands as a youngster and started his career at Feyenoord,
although made just two senior appearances.
He spent two years at PEC Zwolle before moving to the Sky Blues in a deal worth £1.2m last year.
He has scored four goals in 21 games from midfield this season, despite playing in a deeper role.
Rangers this week made contact with Aberdeen about 23-year-old attacking midfielder Scott Wright, who is out of contract in the summer.
However, there is more chance of players leaving Ibrox than arriving in January, with the likes of Greg Stewart and Jordan Jones struggling for game time this season.