Ally McCoist hopeful Steven Davis will be next in line to pledge future to Rangers

[ian1964 10,414]

ALLY McCoist is hopeful Steven Davis will be next to pledge his future to Rangers following long-term deals awarded to Allan McGregor and Steven Whittaker on Monday.

Rangers goalkeeper McGregor penned a new six-year deal while defender Whittaker has signed up for five and McCoist is keen for Davis - in the final year of his contract - to extend his stay in Govan.

 

McCoist, who was last night hoping to secure Spanish midfielder Juan Manuel Ortiz as his first new signing since becoming Ibrox manager, told Rangers TV: "Hopefully Steven Davis will follow Allan and Steven.

 

"I don't want to tempt fate, but contract negotiations are continuing with Steven and his representatives and I would be very hopeful that we could get something organised with Steven as well.

 

"He certainly comes into the same category as Allan and Steven. He has been a top player for us and instrumental in the spine of the side.

 

"I'm thrilled that Allan and Steven have signed new deals with the club that keeps them with us for a long time.

 

"They are smashing lads and great players who have been part of the success that we have been lucky enough to enjoy in the last three years and hopefully there is more to come.

 

"There were clubs looking at both players and that was not a surprise because they are valuable assets to the club.

 

"When you have players of their quality then they do attract interest from elsewhere.

 

"They had to weigh up their options and they had important decisions to make.

 

"I think we all feel - and they do too - that they have made the right ones.

 

"It was well documented that Bursaspor were after Steven and there were one or two clubs sniffing about Allan which is no surprise because he has been nothing short of sensational in the last few seasons."

 

McCoist spent time in South America over the summer checking on targets and returned believing that he has an excellent core of players at Ibrox already.

 

He said: "I was in Argentina over the summer watching about eight or nine games and I saw some good teams and some good players. But the best thing to come out of the trip was that it reinforced my belief that we have some very good players at this club.

 

"Sometimes you look about, but the grass is not always necessarily greener on the other side."

 

As well as the Whittaker and McGregor deals being signed this week, striker David Healy, utility man Andrew Little, left-back Sasa Papac and winger Salim Kerkar had already penned new one-year deals.

 

And Whittaker expects more new signings to arrive before too long. "There is a long time to go before the window shuts and I'm sure we will have some new faces in before it does," said the defender.

 

"Deals can be done very quickly and I'm sure he (McCoist] is eyeing up the right people to bring in. He obviously doesn't want to kind of panic buy and I'm sure he will bring in the right faces."

 

Rangers head to Germany today for an eight-day training camp which will also involve games against Sportfreunde Lotte tomorrow, Bochum on Saturday and then Bayer Leverkusen on 13 July.

 

McCoist said: "We are off and running. It doesn't seem so long ago that we were dancing about Rugby Park and then at Ibrox, but that's history now. We have to go and retain the championship.

 

"We are off to Germany and it has a place that has been very good to us in the past. The facilities are very good, the games are ideal and the people are great."

 

http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Ally-McCoist-hopeful-Steven-Davis.6796613.jp?articlepage=2

[Frankie 8,150]

Davis was very poor at times last season but there's no doubt when he plays well, the team plays well. I really hope we can tie him down.

[Gribz 743]

Davis was very poor at times last season but there's no doubt when he plays well, the team plays well. I really hope we can tie him down.

 

Yes agreed, 09/10 he was outstanding and set himself standards but last season was more often poor than not. Just wonder if he plays better inside right mid position.

 

Plus getting a better replacement wouldnt be easy at all.

[gisabeer 409]

It doesn't seem so long ago that we were dancing about Rugby Park and then at Ibrox

 

im still dancing now ally, no one told me we had to stop!!!

[Tumshie RFC 0]

Davis was very poor at times last season but there's no doubt when he plays well, the team plays well. I really hope we can tie him down.

 

Agree with that Frankie. He started coming onto a bit of form after the CIS Cup Final and that's when we really turned the screw on the Mhanky Mob. I thought his performance in the cup final was as good as I've seen from a Rangers midfielder in a cup final for a long, long time.

[Frankie 8,150]

Agree with that Frankie. He started coming onto a bit of form after the CIS Cup Final and that's when we really turned the screw on the Mhanky Mob. I thought his performance in the cup final was as good as I've seen from a Rangers midfielder in a cup final for a long, long time.

 

Yeah, I was pretty critical of the lad for long periods last season.

 

Rightly so in my opinion as when on form and playing with the correct attitude, he's a tremendous midfielder - hard-working, tenacious, creative and dominant. However, if he slacks off then he becomes anonymous and struggle to influence games enough without him.

 

The last 5 or 6 games he really got his act together but to be fair to him he wasn't the only midfielder that struggled with Edu and Naismith also off form early in the New Year in particular.

[54andcounting 0]

I wouldn't hold my breath for Davis...wasn't it around this time last year that he said he craved the Premiership?

 

A half decent offer, and he'll be off!