This week, the Rangers’ transfer record is once again in the news as Dave King attempts to turn around the failing Ibrox boardroom.
Even though former Glasgow chairman King isn’t a candidate to succeed John Bennett in Glasgow right now, that didn’t stop the Ibrox stockholder from destroying his peers.
Dave King has brought attention to the Rangers’ recent season-long purchasing spree by claiming that the team has “wasted” the money made via player sales and European incursions.
“We had to use our limited resources very wisely in order to compete with our neighbours,” King said to TalkSPORT. “We took the opposite action.
In actuality, the money we did have was squandered.
“To be honest, we’ve squandered the few resources we did have.”
Dave King also criticised the board for “abandoning” a prior hiring strategy that prioritised candidates’ “character” and “temperament.”
Ben Davies is a player who undoubtedly qualifies as a costly failure to sign, but he may have momentarily avoided the spotlight at Ibrox.However, opportunity is about to present itself after making his league debut for new team Birmingham City, and the Gers are aiming to at least recoup some of their outlay.
Dave King discussing athletes such as Ben Davies
In order to sign centre defender Ben Davies in the summer of 2022, Rangers and Liverpool reached a £4 million agreement.
Six months prior, the Gers had just agreed to sell Nathan Patterson for £16 million. They also increased their reserves with the £6 million transfer of Joe Aribo and the £23 million agreement for Calvin Bassey.
When you include in the run to the Europa League Final and the Champions League qualifying, Rangers’ finances appear to have been significantly strengthened from the outside.
Davies had been brought in to give Connor Goldson some left-foot foolishness and to be a calm captain who would lead Rangers to even greater success.
However, in the two years that have passed, the Davies transfer has shown to be a transfer that encapsulates all that has gone wrong in the previous few seasons.
Ben Davies failed to be a productive option at centre defence for Rangers, and there were doubts about his physicality and mindset due to his frequent injuries.
The defender continued to claim, two years later, that he hadn’t made a lasting commitment to Rangers and that the team had been making concerted efforts to deduct his large salary from the payroll.
In the last moments of the transfer window, League One Birmingham City, supported by the United States, made the bold decision to sign a one-year loan agreement to bring Davies to St Andrew’s.
Rangers loanee given enormous opportunity to shine
Ben Davies officially made his Birmingham City league debut a few weeks after joining the team.
This was the defender’s debut game in League One with the Blues, having replaced the bench for Birmingham in an EFL Trophy loss to Walsall.
After Polish defender Krystian Bielik was sent off in the 3-1 victory over Wrexham, Davies entered the game as a substitute for former Celtic midfielder Tomoki Iwata. Davies played for a brief period of time.
It’s evident that, as Tom Brady-backed Birmingham City attempts to gain promotion, the Rangers loanee is currently third choice at centre back behind Bielik and colleague Christoph Klarer.
However, Ben Davies is now certain to start for Birmingham City after receiving that red card, and Rangers supporters will be hoping he takes advantage of the opportunity.
The match on Saturday against Rotherham is the ideal chance for Davies to make an impact on Chris Davies’ squad.
Davies needs to perform well at Birmingham this season if Rangers are to even come close to recovering the £4 million they lost to Liverpool.
As Rangers try to move past the club’s dismal transfer history, let’s hope it’s a fresh start for everyone.
GET MORE NEWS HERE
Be the first to comment