Davies starts as Gio rings the changes for Rangers

GVB has made a bit of a statement with today’s starting XI to face St Johnstone.

As regulars will know, there was a bit of a set to between Ally McCoist, Kris Boyd and in a sense, some of the fanbase, over whether or not the club needed (or wanted) to postpone matches to rest players in preparation for PSV.

We at Ibrox Noise may have sided with Ally on this one, but we were ready to take whatever Gio decided in terms of the team line up as his indication re: Tuesday.

And it’s rather telling.

Gio has rested James Sands, Tom Lawrence, Glen Kamara, Alfredo Morelos, Steven Davis, Scott Arfield and the headline name Ryan Kent, giving starts to Ben Davies, Rabbi Matondo and Scott Wright, not to mention the returning Ryan Jack.

There is absolutely no question this lineup is with one eye on the visit of PSV, which rather suggests how Gio feels about the notion of postponement. This is certainly no fringe XI but it sees a LOT of changes from the visit of Union midweek, and for fans who want to see key players like Kent and Lawrence and Morelos get minutes and momentum under their belts, Gio clearly wants to rest them for Tuesday.

That said, it is also a deep squad, and this is the most summer signings we’ve seen start this season.

Is this the beginning of Ben Davies at CB?

All in good time.