Stephen Robinson has admitted he made a last ditch plea to lure Steven Davis to St Mirren before the experienced midfielder penned a new one year extension at Rangers.
Davis was expected to leave Ibrox this summer after his contract expired but Giovanni van Bronckhorst and the board offered the Northern Ireland legend another deal. Robinson believed he had a great chance of convincing Davis to join the Paisley side due to the pair having worked together when the Buddies boss was part of the international coaching set-up.
But his attempt to land the experienced midfield man was in vain: “I was desperate to sign him," he said. "I was hoping he wouldn’t get another deal. There were a lot of rumours that he was coming to St Mirren. I texted him to say, ‘Is there any truth that you are interested?’ But he had already signed a contract with Rangers and I wasn’t surprised by that.
“Steven is a top-class person and a top-class professional and you don’t get as many caps as he has without being a fantastic player. The word ‘legend’ is thrown out too freely in the game these days but for me he is a true football legend.”
Davis joined Rangers for a second spell in January 2019 on an initial loan before making the deal permanent. He has since gone on to add a further Scottish Premiership title, Scottish Cup and a Europa League runners up medal to his accolade of being Britain’s most capped player.
While Robinson might’ve missed out on a reunion with his countrymen Davis this time, he still has ambitions of managing Northern Ireland one day after being pipped to the role by Ian Baraclough after Michael O’Neil departed for Stoke in 2020. He added: “Never say never. I interviewed for it once and didn’t get it.
“Obviously the powers that be didn’t think it was my time but you get on with your job at club level which I’m very very happy with. I have a great opportunity at St Mirren and have no desire to be in that position at this moment in time, but who knows what is down the line.”
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