Steven Davis exhibits mind over matter.......

[redford 0]

A decent and fairly complimentary article from The Herald.

 

 

Steven Davis exhibits mind over matter as the creative brain of the Rangers team

 

Davis has this season shown the skills that made him Aston Villa supporters� player of the year

Richard Wilson

 

The worth of Steven Davis can be measured by degrees.

 

No player has created more goals in the Premier League this season, and nobody at Rangers has performed with quite such refined technique and intelligence. He represents the imagination of a side that is predominantly, and convincingly, single-minded.

 

Davis is a deft figure, and often unobtrusive when not striking at the heart of opponents� vulnerability. It seems at times as though he distresses teams with the subtle intent of his range of passing and incisive running. His burden this season has been to provide the sense of wonder, or at least some kind of ingenuity, when so much of Rangers� game has been based on stern command.

 

He relies on being astute, but perhaps his greatest quality is the diligence that frames all of his work. Team-mates remark casually of the way he turns up every week and produces every week, as though the relentlessness can be taken for granted. But then, naturally, this consistency of ambition and exertion is not without torment.

 

In the 1-0 win over Hamilton at Ibrox earlier this month, when Rangers looked jaded in every sense, a stray Davis pass brought Kenny McDowall to the touchline. The coach immediately signalled to the midfielder to keep his head up, as though a moment of imprecision would feel like a small devastation to Davis. After the match, Walter Smith stood in the dressing room to address his players and asked who was feeling that heavy weight of fatigue. Davis, no doubt solemnly, raised his arm.

 

It�s my job to create things and I�ve managed to get a decent number of assists and a decent level of consistency Steven Davis

ââ?¬Å?When you see guys like Steven Davis suffering a wee bit, you know that itââ?¬â?¢s starting to get to them,ââ?¬Â Smith says, as if the endurance of the Northern Irishman is some form of guarantee. Davis might as well have said that he was exhausted with the sheer extent of the anticipation that surrounds him. He is recognised as one of the players in the Ibrox squad most certainly equipped with the attributes to succeed in the English Premier League, where he performed with distinction for Aston Villa and then a little more doubtfully for Fulham, and with that comes a demand to be constantly relevant.

 

For Davis, this means applying his perceptiveness in the final third, or revealing occasional glimpses of extravagance. He brings an assiduous inclination to the business of being enterprising, as if the greatest satisfaction can be found in simply being central to something meaningful.

 

ââ?¬Å?Thatââ?¬â?¢s the side of the game I like to play,ââ?¬Â Davis says. ââ?¬Å?Itââ?¬â?¢s my job to create things and Iââ?¬â?¢ve managed to get a decent number of assists and a decent level of consistency. Weââ?¬â?¢ve got other players to break up the play and itââ?¬â?¢s the [other] side of the game that Iââ?¬â?¢m in the team for. There have been certain games when Iââ?¬â?¢ve maybe done better, but thereââ?¬â?¢s still room for improvement.ââ?¬Â

 

The self-effacement is a virtue, so that despite having become the youngest captain of Northern Ireland, and played in the Uefa Cup final and in the Champions League for Rangers, Davis continues to seek greater sophistication. His time at Murray Park is often spent practising free-kicks and working on his finishing.

 

Davis, among the four nominees ââ?¬â?? with David Weir, Kris Boyd and Andy Webster ââ?¬â?? for the Cheque Centre PFA Scotland player of the year award, is a pensive figure. The panache on the field may come naturally to him, but then he also understands that it must be accompanied by a fastidiousness if his potential is to be fully realised.

 

ââ?¬Å?Davo as a footballer is top drawer, in his all-round game, and I have never seen him have a bad day in training, never mind on a football pitch,ââ?¬Â says Webster, who has spent the season on loan from Rangers at Dundee United. ââ?¬Å?His ability, his awareness, his passing, his movement, his work-ethic is second to none. Sometimes, when you know you are a good footballer, the running about is the hard part. But his fitness levels are exceptional.ââ?¬Â

 

If the need to score a few more goals than the three he has so far this season is a small regret, then he might be consoled by their quality. His strike against Aberdeen 11 days ago, in particular, was one of exquisite savagery ââ?¬â?? a curling shot lashed into the top corner from 25 yards. It is the scope of his ability, something of deep value, that distinguishes Davis, but his care of it that is perhaps more invaluable.

 

We might call it attitude, or at least recognise it as a willingness to distrust any sense of conceit. When Davis made such an impression on his breakthrough at Villa Park that he was voted the club�s player of the year, young player of the year and fans� player of the year, it was as a central midfielder capable, with sleight of mind, of providing a vital threat from behind the strikers. At Rangers, he mostly plays on the right, with two more doughty figures in the middle, although with a licence to drift that causes his marker to be disorientated.

 

ââ?¬Å?Itââ?¬â?¢s been a learning curve for me in the last couple of seasons, playing out there,ââ?¬Â he says. ââ?¬Å?I still prefer to play in the middle but I know the manager feels he gets a good balance with me on the right. Probably my best spell of the season was when I did play in the middle, just in December when the team was doing well. But I understand the reasons for playing me on the right and itââ?¬â?¢s a position I enjoy.ââ?¬Â

 

He is a small, slender figure, as if delicate, but he carries the ball with an irrefutable sense of assurance. Davis is treasured at Rangers, but there is also a sense of him finding himself after his move to Scotland. He has grown in stature on the field, while winning his first medals as a professional, and become a father during his time at Ibrox. When his mother passed away last year, Ally McCoist and Ian Durrant attended the funeral, a gesture which he continues to appreciate.

 

Davis supported Rangers as a boy growing up in the small village of Cullybackey, near Ballymena, but has found the pressure to win, to always be domineering, both a surprise and a stimulus. It has demanded that he reach for the best of his game, and limit the rest.

 

ââ?¬Å?I didnââ?¬â?¢t realise [the demands] myself until I came up here, even although I was a fan,ââ?¬Â he says. ââ?¬Å?You probably take it for granted that Rangers and Celtic win. There are no easy games, youââ?¬â?¢re playing against teams who are always up for it and if you lose a game itââ?¬â?¢s all doom and gloom.ââ?¬Â

 

Rangers have at least been able to rely on Davis� ability to rise to the occasion.