Whether he's good enough in a competitive league to offer Everton something. The SPL for Rangers is not to the standard/competitive to draw any worthwhile conclusion. Similar to Vlasic.
He looked alright at Forest, he stopped playing because the season was over by way of play off and Karanka knew he had no chance of signing him permanently.
Confidence back for what? To come back to Everton and not get a sniff?
As I said at the time, at 29 - they should have kept him and allowed for a Premier League (or Championship chasing) panic buy in January. Someone would have stumped up.
Sure, we saved a few quid on his wages - but we've lost than in transfer fee.