Rangers biggest problem since Steven Gerrard left the club hasn’t been that money hasn’t been spent, it’s that it has been spent badly.
Inflated transfer fees or sky-high wages for squad members who didn’t contribute enough, in some cases, both.
One Rangers player who falls under this category is Ben Davies, a £4m signing bought to replace Filip Helander but who never hit the heights of the big Swede in terms of form or popularity amongst the Ibrox support.
Ben Davies puts Rangers experience to good use
The 29-year old had some good runs of form, however, these would be bookended by calamitous Old Firm displays.
Perhaps ironically, Davies’ best form came in the Europa League against better opposition.
The former Liverpool defender struggled with the physical side of the game but is a good passer of the ball and reader of the game, Davies feels that he has improved as a player since moving to Rangers and that Birmingham City will reap the benefits, as reported by Birmingham Live:
“Going up to Rangers has helped me deal with that expectation and pressure of winning every game. It’s made me more comfortable with that situation.
“I’ve had good life experiences, plenty of football clubs and plenty of loans. I’m quite an experienced player now and I feel like I can implement that into the team.
“The standard in training is excellent,” he added.
“The lads have been doing really well. Obviously I want to play every game but it takes time to get up to the standard and intensity the manager wants to work at.
“We’re a close squad and I feel like everyone wants each other to do well, whether you’re playing or not, because you know that next week you could be in the team.”
Rangers will be hoping that Davies finds form in England
Davies is well respected in England and has had a solid career in the lower leagues which makes his struggles against more direct Scottish opposition all the more bizarre.
Rangers paid more for Davies than they did for Connor Goldson or Helander and he was older than both of them when he signed too.
For the fee paid, he should have been playing every week.
On loan at Birmingham in League One, Davies will be hoping to impress so that the big spending outfit take up the option to buy clause.
So too will Rangers with the hope being that they can recoup at least some of the £4m that was paid to Liverpool.
