Pundit Frank McAvennie has encouraged Michael Beale to bring Steven Davis back into the Rangers starting lineup.
Beale was confirmed as the new manager at Ibrox on Monday evening, succeeding Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who was sacked by the club with a nine-point gap to the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Davis has only started nine games for the Gers this season with an average just shy of 55 minutes per appearance.
However, McAvennie has called for the veteran midfielder to be reinstated into the Light Blues side following a change in the dugout.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “Rangers have to go back to basics.
“Giovanni van Bronckhorst was trying too many different things, trying to be clever. It wasn’t working. Keep the ball, play it about.
“You have the boy Davis on the bench who is the master at that. Van Bronckhorst never played him and I don’t get why.
“He played every game under Gerrard and he was absolutely amazing. He controls absolutely everything in the middle of the park.
“You take him out of the team and everyone begins to struggle – that is not a surprise, is it? So he needs to come back in now, calm things down.
“Davis has the experience to sort all of this out. I know he isn’t the youngest, but you can’t replace what he offers the team in the middle.
“Honestly, I couldn’t believe he wasn’t playing this season. It made absolutely no sense to me.”
TIF Thoughts on McAvennie’s comments…
Is Steven Davis finished?
Yes
No
During Beale’s last stint in Glasgow alongside Steven Gerrard, Davis was one of the club’s most-used players, with only Scott Arfield making more appearances among midfielders than the Northern Irishman.
The 37-year-old boasts the third-best pass completion rate in the side (as per WhoScored), highlighting his ability to maintain the tempo as McAvennie alluded to.
Davis was an unused substitute in Van Bronckhorst’s final four league games prior to his sacking, but it will be interesting to see if he is handed a more prominent role under a coach who seemed to favour him last time around.