Steven Davis: Rangers interim boss wants to 'get some pride back'

Steven Davis wants to "get some pride back" after being placed in interim charge of Rangers in the wake of Michael Beale's sacking.

The midfielder, 38, has had two spells at Ibrox but has not played since sustaining a knee injury late last year.

He will be assisted by former Rangers players Alex Rae and Steven Smith.

"We want to just try and get results back in place where we'd like them to be," Davis told RangersTV.

"It's going to be a joint effort with myself and the rest of the staff. I like to play football in a certain way but ultimately you have to get results and that's first and foremost at a club like Rangers. That's what the expectation is.

"I just want to try and get some pride back in terms of how we play and try and get the boys' confidence back as well.

"We have got a really good group here. I see the level of application that they show every day here. I've been in and around it long enough working with the majority of them and just want to get that belief back in the team."

Signed by Walter Smith in 2008 and then by Steven Gerrard in 2019, Davis has won 10 major honours as a Rangers player and is the most capped British men's player with 140 Northern Ireland appearances.

"Obviously, management is something I've considered further down the line," Davis said. "To get this opportunity, I wasn't expecting so it didn't really cross my mind, I just think it's an opportunity I couldn't turn down.

"I'm really looking forward to the challenge. Everyone knows what the club means to me. My approach is just going to be the way I was as a player in all my time here at the club and that's just to give it my best and hopefully that'll be good enough.

"You have to be your own person. I've managed to work with some incredible managers. Walter, a legend of this club. It was a great honour to play under him for so many years and have the relationship that I did with him.

"At Southampton I played under some great managers as well, like [Mauricio] Pochettino and Ronald Koeman and internationally with Michael O'Neill as well, whom I've got a really close relationship with.

"I've been fortunate to play under a number of really good managers and I'll pick up a lot of things from them as well over the years and try and implement some of the those things that they've shown me."

Former Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson on BBC Radio Scotland

Steven Davis is a top man and he's held in the highest esteem by the fans. He's a hall of famer and conducted himself with the ultimate class that the Rangers badge deserves.

We were both lucky to work under Walter Smith, who was the best of the best really.

So, as an individual, you get to learn these wee traits and get an insight into what the club means and the way you should conduct yourself when you represent it. When it comes to that, Davis will be like a duck to water.

He's a calm character; he's a thinker and very articulate. He'll need to get a reaction and I'm pretty sure the players will be desperate to play for him and put the wrongs right.