Hate to say it, but it looks like Davis is getting too old.

archimedes

archimedes

Well-Known Member
Not to take anything away from ronight's result, and as much as he brings to the team, it looks to me as if Steven Davis has started to lose the sharpness that is required to play twice a week. Usually he sits deep and runs the show, but the Braga players were far too quick for him tonight ( although he wasn't the only one), especially at their 2nd goal.
I suspect the manager will be looking to get some younger fresher legs for that position in the summer.

Hopefully he proves me wrong for the remainder of the season, but tonight I really noticed how sluggish he looked.
Jack isn't the quickest player either, I feel like we need a bit more pace in the midfield, our recent poor performances haven't been helped by our pedestrian paced 'recycling' of the ball.
 
I think it’s just form, because Davis has been mammoth from the start of the season to New Year.

Age can’t have fucked him in the space of 4-6 weeks since the end of 2019.

I think he has just been struggling along with the rest of his team mates. If the team gets going again off the back of tonight, Davis will be at the heart of that.
 
The problem is that he isn’t able to press anymore so took up a deep position . As a result braga had so much space in the middle and out wide
 
I don't agree with the too old at all. We've seen some bursting runs from him that the younger players don't seem to be able to manage.

He hasn't been great but has had some injury to deal with and a dip in form. However, he's been far from our worst performer. I think playing him alongside Kamara just means there is far too much work to be done for any midfielder.

He'll still do us a big turn.
 
I think he's just off form. If it was ageing I think the decline would be more gradual - not over an xmas break. Also don't think he'd have lost the ability to pass the ball
 
I don't think you need pace to play the position he plays, and when he does get too old we have a natural replacement in Jack to take over
 
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He's had a few injuries niggles, between that and playing on plastic pitches one week, and then our current glue of a pitch the next will not have been that easy. He is still a class act, but yes it would be nice to have the luxury of rotating him now and again with someone of equal quality.
 
Was maybe a bit too harsh in the match thread but if it was the first time i wouldn't be so strong. Davis' form without Ryan Jack beside him is really poor and worrying, there's enough performances where he has looked like the player he was when he first rejoined the club and a lot of us thought he was finished. If Kamara also wasn't such a shambles we might have been able to get away with it a little more but both of them were dreadful and the biggest reason they ran all over us until Hagi scored
 
Tonight braga pressed like madmen for 65 mins and then ran out of steam.

It was a struggle for the whole team. I don't think Davis is past it, most teams would struggle.
 
Really struggled when he returned to us. Massive turnaround leading to the split last season. Starts this season, up to winter break, as an absolute stalwart and now looks a bit off the pace.

Gerrard looks like he doesn't want to play him on artificial surfaces and probably he's got a bespoke training programme due to his age.

Our state of pitch is also a probable reason for him looking off the pace.

I still think we need his experience, his winning mentality and hopefully this is just a slight blip.

I am absolutely not criticising his performances.
 
As others have said it's form, not age.

If it was his age we would see a gradual decline. Going from amazing on the 29th of Dec and before to shîte on the 17th of January onwards isn't a gradual decline.
 
The reality is that all of our midfield were overrun for most of the match and that forced them into mistake after mistake and bad pass after bad pass. They looked pedestrian and a yard slow compared to Braga. It wasn't just Davis. It was Kamara, Arfield and Kent as well.
 
archimedes said:
Not to take anything away from ronight's result, and as much as he brings to the team, it looks to me as if Steven Davis has started to lose the sharpness that is required to play twice a week. Usually he sits deep and runs the show, but the Braga players were far too quick for him tonight ( although he wasn't the only one), especially at their 2nd goal.
I suspect the manager will be looking to get some younger fresher legs for that position in the summer.

Hopefully he proves me wrong for the remainder of the season, but tonight I really noticed how sluggish he looked.
Jack isn't the quickest player either, I feel like we need a bit more pace in the midfield, our recent poor performances haven't been helped by our pedestrian paced 'recycling' of the ball.
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No just no. It’s form he hasn’t gone over the edge in one month ffs. The whole team is or was lacking confidence till the hour mark. Enjoy a fantastic result ffs
 
NDC bear forever said:
We need a monster of a defensive midfielder in there and a proper attacking centre midfielder (like Ntcham at the mentally challengeds)
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Edmundson looks like he could play well in there. Strong, good in the tackle, good with the ball at his feet and good at finding a pass
 
Come on, was there any Rangers player in the first hour of the game that looked anything like the player he was pre break, each and every one of them treated the ball like a hot potato and was chasing shadows.

We are a team short in confidence against as team the complete opposite and it showed for long periods tonight, where we looked completely out of our depth. But at the final whistle we have astonishingly scored 3 goals in the final 25 mins to snatch a win and that took balls and character from each and every player, including Davis.
 
I'll be honest with this. He is now at an age where he cant play 2 games a week for 7 months of a season.
 
Hm. I don't know if it's age specifically. He was never fast, and European games against fast teams like tonight will expose him in that 'quarterback' deepest midfielder position. He wasn't on it in terms of passing the ball for a long while tonight as well. I think he still has his uses but maybe a bit more sparingly.
 
The games have came thick and fast, a lot to ask a player of his age to perform week in week out. If only we had the opportunity to drip through our younger players but alas we have to play our best 11 until games become meaningless.

Tonight proves that if you get stuck in and have the right attitude then we have it all to play for.
 
I said before that I thought that Steve Davis was starting to show his age. Tonight just added to my conviction as he was pressed by Braga and made mistakes. Ryan Jack is the Heir Apparent by the looks of things but I wouldn't mind an other attacking midfielder and keep Jack as a defensive midfielder.
 
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Davis was brilliant up till the winter break, so your saying since its turned to 2020 he's became too old?
Braga were a good side was with quality movement, a much better team than us, as simple as that.
 
archimedes said:
Not to take anything away from ronight's result, and as much as he brings to the team, it looks to me as if Steven Davis has started to lose the sharpness that is required to play twice a week. Usually he sits deep and runs the show, but the Braga players were far too quick for him tonight ( although he wasn't the only one), especially at their 2nd goal.
I suspect the manager will be looking to get some younger fresher legs for that position in the summer.

Hopefully he proves me wrong for the remainder of the season, but tonight I really noticed how sluggish he looked.
Jack isn't the quickest player either, I feel like we need a bit more pace in the midfield, our recent poor performances haven't been helped by our pedestrian paced 'recycling' of the ball.
Click to expand...
i thought that as well mate in terms of hes was a bit slower than the opposition. but then his game aint never been about pace. yeah, the whole team has been hit an miss, but, he is getting older. hes still fit and not out of shape at all. but, against any quick, quick sides he will struggle to keep up the pace. but he will still do for me at the moment.
 
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