Curtis Davies

[dave.woodhall]

With all due respect what the fuck do you know from Toronto Canada ? I have seen some shite over the last 45 years but i have'nt seen chairmen pick teams to save money and here in Birmingham, England i am really hurting right now so if it's correct as some are implying that Lerner has told the manager not to pick Curtis Davies, clearly a better player for today's situation that Clark, it's a disgrace.

Oh right. This is the bit where you tell me you're a better fan because I don't live in the UK. That I can't possibly know what the fuck I'm talking about because I'm just some Johnny foreigner living miles away. That only those like you who go to the games or live in Birmingham can make valid points.

I'm not going to waste energy correcting you, but I think you'll find you are very much wide of the mark on a number of assumptions you have made about me and others who no longer live at home. Plus, in the 21st century I see everything you see via TV/Internet etc. The only exception being I cannot physically go to games, but I really haven't missed many in a few years. And I stand by my point that you've lost your marbles if you really want Randy Lerner out because we lost to Newcastle. Because I don't recall you posting anything similar after we'd beaten West Ham last week. In fact I dare say you were one of the 36,000 singing "One Randy Lerner" at Villa Park. Go on, admit it, because I was all the way from Toronto, Canada.

Pack it in, both of you.

[Toronto Villa]

With all due respect what the fuck do you know from Toronto Canada ? I have seen some shite over the last 45 years but i have'nt seen chairmen pick teams to save money and here in Birmingham, England i am really hurting right now so if it's correct as some are implying that Lerner has told the manager not to pick Curtis Davies, clearly a better player for today's situation that Clark, it's a disgrace.

Oh right. This is the bit where you tell me you're a better fan because I don't live in the UK. That I can't possibly know what the fuck I'm talking about because I'm just some Johnny foreigner living miles away. That only those like you who go to the games or live in Birmingham can make valid points.

I'm not going to waste energy correcting you, but I think you'll find you are very much wide of the mark on a number of assumptions you have made about me and others who no longer live at home. Plus, in the 21st century I see everything you see via TV/Internet etc. The only exception being I cannot physically go to games, but I really haven't missed many in a few years. And I stand by my point that you've lost your marbles if you really want Randy Lerner out because we lost to Newcastle. Because I don't recall you posting anything similar after we'd beaten West Ham last week. In fact I dare say you were one of the 36,000 singing "One Randy Lerner" at Villa Park. Go on, admit it, because I was all the way from Toronto, Canada.

Pack it in, both of you.

Hold on a minute Dave. There was no need for him to go to the better fan card or "you don't know what you're talking about because you don't live here" line. And you know very well that he did. Say or do what you want, but I'm going to take exception to that every time.

[BannedUserIAT]

How is Davies shit? What makes him 'shit'? He is our most athletic defender with the best pyshical attributes. I think we've got a good bunch of central defenders who we can rely on equally.

When a player admits he's little better than a pub player when he's having a bad day, what other evidence do you need exactly?

I could handle it if he was, for 3 out of 4 games, an 8/10 player and then maybe a 6/10 for the 4th game.
But he's not. He's a 6/10 on a good day and a 3/10 on a bad day.

Sorry, but I'll take Clark every day of the week and twice on a Sunday over Davies. As Dave says, there's a top player in there somewhere but I don't think even Davies himself knows how to bring it out.

Clark didn't look brilliant against Newcastle due to:
(a) Dunne having a nightmare
(b) the full-backs having a nightmare
(c) the midfield being a open door
(d) Newcastle's forward line having one of those days when everything goes right.

A young lad with lots of promise but little first team experience can't be blamed for this and certainly shouldn't be dropped in favour of a bloke who may or may not perform as bad as a Sunday League clogger.

[eamonn]

Jesus, didn't realise the common consensus was that Davies is a waste of space. Before his shoulder gave way half-way through 08/09 he was in decent form with Laursen beside him. He's not as good as at least 3 other central-defenders but he is younger than them. I'd put Sidwell and Heskey ahead of him in the queue to get rid of.

Incidentially I think his transfer fee was either £8m or £8.5m added to the £1m ''loan fee'' we paid for his first season here.

[taylorsworkrate]

How is Davies shit? What makes him 'shit'? He is our most athletic defender with the best pyshical attributes. I think we've got a good bunch of central defenders who we can rely on equally.

When a player admits he's little better than a pub player when he's having a bad day, what other evidence do you need exactly?

I could handle it if he was, for 3 out of 4 games, an 8/10 player and then maybe a 6/10 for the 4th game.
But he's not. He's a 6/10 on a good day and a 3/10 on a bad day.

Sorry, but I'll take Clark every day of the week and twice on a Sunday over Davies. As Dave says, there's a top player in there somewhere but I don't think even Davies himself knows how to bring it out.

Clark didn't look brilliant against Newcastle due to:
(a) Dunne having a nightmare
(b) the full-backs having a nightmare
(c) the midfield being a open door
(d) Newcastle's forward line having one of those days when everything goes right.

A young lad with lots of promise but little first team experience can't be blamed for this and certainly shouldn't be dropped in favour of a bloke who may or may not perform as bad as a Sunday League clogger.

Do you think Davies's performance at Anfield up against Torres last season was only a 6/10?

Davies has been incredibly unlucky with injuries since he's been here, especially at the start of last season when it looked as though he was going to fulfill his potential,

I agree that we shouldn't overreact with one poor Clark perfomance (although it was worrying how Carroll was bullying him).

I think what we can all agree on is that we need BOTH Cuellar and Collins back sharpish. 

[bob]

There's too many rumours and speculation at the moment surrounding our club,

What was it again about Randy staying out of the limelight and letting the manager (or caretaker in this case) get on his job how he wanted to? Hmmm.

Hmmm... do you see the problem here?

Erm... I think you have just taken two quotes out of context there.

I want Lerner to come clean about current situations i.e new manager etc... but at the same time I don't think he should be interfering and thinking it's his job to pick the team.

You don't see the problem then.

Also, it's impossible for me to have taken those quotes out of context when they were written by you at the same time, in the same paragraph, about the same subject. I separated them for clarity, but it seems it still wasn't clear enough.

[nick harper]

How is Davies shit? What makes him 'shit'? He is our most athletic defender with the best pyshical attributes. I think we've got a good bunch of central defenders who we can rely on equally.

When a player admits he's little better than a pub player when he's having a bad day, what other evidence do you need exactly?

I could handle it if he was, for 3 out of 4 games, an 8/10 player and then maybe a 6/10 for the 4th game.
But he's not. He's a 6/10 on a good day and a 3/10 on a bad day.

Sorry, but I'll take Clark every day of the week and twice on a Sunday over Davies. As Dave says, there's a top player in there somewhere but I don't think even Davies himself knows how to bring it out.

Clark didn't look brilliant against Newcastle due to:
(a) Dunne having a nightmare
(b) the full-backs having a nightmare
(c) the midfield being a open door
(d) Newcastle's forward line having one of those days when everything goes right.

A young lad with lots of promise but little first team experience can't be blamed for this and certainly shouldn't be dropped in favour of a bloke who may or may not perform as bad as a Sunday League clogger.

I don't want to be over-critical of a young kid trying to make his way in the game but for a centre half Clark need to win a lot more defensive headers than he does. Both Cole and Carroll have won virtually everything against him in the last two games.

As for Davies, there is a decent centre half in there but he needs games and a leader alongside him. He should have played yesterday.

[PaulTheVillan]

If Davies played yesterday and the result was the same then I bet he'd have got the whole blame

[Risso]

I don't think Davies is a good player at all, but Clark wasn't fully fit as MacGregor has acknowledged.  Therefore, picking an inexperienced, unfit youth player over a fit first team player because of a contractual matter is absolute madness, and really a bit disturbing.

[ktvillan]

The Situation is correct.  People have very short memories.  Davies was excellent and playing with confidence and class when he first joined us and was playing alongside Laursen.  Then a few things happened that changed all that. 

First he had a couple of bad injuries, including the shoulder injury which he gallantly played on with to help out O'Neill who had few other options at CB at the time because meanwhile Laursen was crocked and Mellberg left.  He was paired with various other CBs such as Cuellar.  In addition, according to Davies himself,  O'Neill told him to stop trying to play football and "row Z it".  This is not his natural game.  Not to mention the club dicking him around over his contract.  Is it any great surprise that, carrying an injury, not playing his natural game, little backing from his manager and no a reliable partner,  his form dipped?   When given a chance at the start of last season he was excellent at Anfield.  Then promptly sidelined when we sigend Dunne and Collins. Anyone who thinks he has been given a fair crack of the whip since his shoulder injury is in cloud cuckoo land.  And because he was honest enough to admit when he had a stinker, people use it as a stick to beat him with.  Shameful treatment of a player who has done his best for us in adversity.

I do suspect he isn't being picked because of the contract issue, maybe Lerner wants to see if any new manager rates him before committing further funds.  If so it smacks of Eliis type behaviour.

[john robsons sideburns]

If this is the reason why Davies isn't playing, then if the lad has anything about him at all, he'd go in to see the boss and say, "You know, I've not really performed consistently here since you paid all that money for me, you know.  And, you know, I want to play for this club, and I'm clearly not worth this extra pay rise, so let's, you know, waive this pay rise, and shift it to 75 appearances or something, you know."

But obviously being another greedy, arrogant professional footballer, he clearly won't do this.  But how much would he go up in all our estimation if he did so.

I actually think that Davies is a decent centre-half.  Anybody who has played centre-half to any sort of decent level will know the importance of a balance between a left sided centre-half and a right sided one.

It is completely different playing on the left side and right side.  Starting positions are different, a left sided player is used to looking mainly to his right and having his left back and touchline in his peripheral vision, and a right sided one vice versa.  Clark and Dunne are both left sided defenders, and it showed yesterday when they challenged for the same ball on more than occasion, which showed how uncomfortable Dunne was on the right side. 

Davies is a right side centre-half, but has had to play a lot of games for us as a left sided defender, I don't think it's a coincidence that his best games for Villa have come when he's played on the right alongside Laursen (a left sided centre-half). 

This could of course be a load of tosh, and an excuse for playing shit, but it's something I and a great many people that I've worked with in the Non League game pay a great deal of credence to. 

[Oscar Arce]

With all due respect what the fuck do you know from Toronto Canada ? I have seen some shite over the last 45 years but i have'nt seen chairmen pick teams to save money and here in Birmingham, England i am really hurting right now so if it's correct as some are implying that Lerner has told the manager not to pick Curtis Davies, clearly a better player for today's situation that Clark, it's a disgrace.

Oh right. This is the bit where you tell me you're a better fan because I don't live in the UK. That I can't possibly know what the fuck I'm talking about because I'm just some Johnny foreigner living miles away. That only those like you who go to the games or live in Birmingham can make valid points.

I'm not going to waste energy correcting you, but I think you'll find you are very much wide of the mark on a number of assumptions you have made about me and others who no longer live at home. Plus, in the 21st century I see everything you see via TV/Internet etc. The only exception being I cannot physically go to games, but I really haven't missed many in a few years. And I stand by my point that you've lost your marbles if you really want Randy Lerner out because we lost to Newcastle. Because I don't recall you posting anything similar after we'd beaten West Ham last week. In fact I dare say you were one of the 36,000 singing "One Randy Lerner" at Villa Park. Go on, admit it, because I was all the way from Toronto, Canada.

Pack it in, both of you.

Hold on a minute Dave. There was no need for him to go to the better fan card or "you don't know what you're talking about because you don't live here" line. And you know very well that he did. Say or do what you want, but I'm going to take exception to that every time.

What the hell are you talking about you muppet ?
I was talking about the inference that Curtis Davies was'nt playing because somebody on this thread suggested he was on 49 games and we were due to pay Albion money on his 50th appearance.
If Randy Lerner has decided that it's a disgrace...in my opinion.
If Doug Ellis told managers who to pick in the team we'd rightly be calling for his head.
If that's the case and we are'nt playing him for that reason it's a disgrace and I stand by that.
I did'nt say I wanted Randy Lerner out because we lost to Newcastle, you know that.
You said I'd lost my marbles and I was a disgrace but I have my opinion.
I'm so sick of football at the moment it's all about money and I've supported the Villa for over 45 years, I know that matters for nothing these days as you rightly say you can watch all the games on Sky and the internet, but I have to sit and watch it without the option of the off button.
I did'nt say that made me a better Villa fan than you.

[LeeB]

How is Davies shit? What makes him 'shit'? He is our most athletic defender with the best pyshical attributes. I think we've got a good bunch of central defenders who we can rely on equally.

- He is unbelievably clumsy and ungainly with the ball.
- He gets beaten in the air very easily.
- He gets sucked out of position.
- He drops a ricket in the majority of games

I could go on.

It annoys me when people make up things saying how bad a player is only because they don't like him.

1. Davies on the ball is great... I have no idea what you're saying here.

2. Last time he played for us (Vienna away) he was heading everything and covering a lot for Clark's mistakes.

3. What defender doesn't get sucked out of position from time-to-time? You see it every week whether it be Terry or Bramble.

4. I can't remember his last 'ricket'. I can name more 'rickets' Dunne has dropped... significant 'rickets' too. CC Final anyone?

Point is, Davies has been in and out with injuries... when he is healthy and playing again, you'll see the best of him just like when he had a formidable partnership with Laursen. Funny how no-one called him 'shit' then...

I'm sorry, but he is shit.

Steve Sims was more comfortable in possession.

[Perry Barr Pet]

Davies had an x-ray after the Vienna game.  Maybe he wasn't at Newcastle because he was injured.

[Chico Hamilton III]

It's actually 60 games before Davies' contract can be re-negotiated