Our last pacy centre-back?

[1_Pablo_Angel]

He was fine till he did his shoulder. Never the same after that but he was rushed back as I recall.

[N'ZMAV]

I can't remember, but was Knight slow?

[Risso]

I've said it before, Davies had a few shockers for us and a lot of people judge him only on those.  That's their right I suppose, but the fact is that for the majority of his games he was at least steady, and sometimes very good.  And he was only 22 or 23 when he signed with the pressure of a huge fee around his neck, but seems to have been cut none of the slack that players like Clark get because they're "still learning".

Sorry KT, I don't agree.  There was a time when Davies and Cuellar were our centre back pairing, and for a long old streak of games they were conceding nearly three goals a game.

[LeeB]

I've said it before, Davies had a few shockers for us and a lot of people judge him only on those.  That's their right I suppose, but the fact is that for the majority of his games he was at least steady, and sometimes very good.  And he was only 22 or 23 when he signed with the pressure of a huge fee around his neck, but seems to have been cut none of the slack that players like Clark get because they're "still learning".

Sorry KT, I don't agree.  There was a time when Davies and Cuellar were our centre back pairing, and for a long old streak of games they were conceding nearly three goals a game.

Yes, they were absolute pish together.

[KevinGage]

With a few exceptions Cuellar and Davies together looked brutal.

Davies alongside Laursen however...

I appreaciate a large part of that was the quality of the Dane.  But Davies wasn't the complete walking disaster area many make him out to be.

[neo_Villan]

I never really rated Cuellar. Thought he was generally alright at RB but caught out to easily at CB. I can see why successive managers were reluctant to play him there.

[ktvillan]

I've said it before, Davies had a few shockers for us and a lot of people judge him only on those.  That's their right I suppose, but the fact is that for the majority of his games he was at least steady, and sometimes very good.  And he was only 22 or 23 when he signed with the pressure of a huge fee around his neck, but seems to have been cut none of the slack that players like Clark get because they're "still learning".

Sorry KT, I don't agree.  There was a time when Davies and Cuellar were our centre back pairing, and for a long old streak of games they were conceding nearly three goals a game.

I totally agree that when he and Cuellar were together, those were some of Davies' worst games. However I don't recall them being paired all that often at CB, I more often remember Davies with Laursen and possibly Knight, when he was generally ok or good.   And how much of it was down to Davies and how much down to Cuellar?  And why did the older and more experienced Cuellar remain a favourite among a section of fans despite being gash in many many games, while the less experienced Davies got nothing but stick?  They were at least equally culpable for that pairing being awful.    Cuellar was and still is a terrible footballer and a mediocre defender, who was only rated by MON and maybe a few of our less discerning fans.  He got away lightly whilst Davies seemed to be everyone's favourite scapegoat once he got the wrong side of the blessed Martin. 

[Holte L2]

I've said it before, Davies had a few shockers for us and a lot of people judge him only on those.  That's their right I suppose, but the fact is that for the majority of his games he was at least steady, and sometimes very good.  And he was only 22 or 23 when he signed with the pressure of a huge fee around his neck, but seems to have been cut none of the slack that players like Clark get because they're "still learning".

Sorry KT, I don't agree.  There was a time when Davies and Cuellar were our centre back pairing, and for a long old streak of games they were conceding nearly three goals a game.

I totally agree that when he and Cuellar were together, those were some of Davies' worst games. However I don't recall them being paired all that often at CB, I more often remember Davies with Laursen and possibly Knight, when he was generally ok or good.   And how much of it was down to Davies and how much down to Cuellar?  And why did the older and more experienced Cuellar remain a favourite among a section of fans despite being gash in many many games, while the less experienced Davies got nothing but stick?  They were at least equally culpable for that pairing being awful.    Cuellar was and still is a terrible footballer and a mediocre defender, who was only rated by MON and maybe a few of our less discerning fans.  He got away lightly whilst Davies seemed to be everyone's favourite scapegoat once he got the wrong side of the blessed Martin. 

I always rated Davies. It did go completely wrong at the end. But he was a young centre half lacking a leader. Zat used to leave us over exposed at the back and his shitness didn't help.

With an experienced centre half I do believe he would have developed. I'd have him back tomorrow.

[Steve R]

Fastest centre back I have ever seen at Villa Park was John Charles.   Just as comfortable at centre forward of centre half.   Superb athlete.  These days he would retire on fifty million quid in the bank.   He was the last of the generation who got the license of a pub if they were lucky.

I used to go to his pub down Churwell Hill. Even in his fifties he looked an athlete. A fine gentleman too.

[brian green]

I saw John Charles at Villa Park run the length of the pitch and smack the ball against our crossbar.   He chased all the way back to the Leeds goal and cleared the ball off his own line from a Villa counter attack.   Best all round footballer I have ever seen and a great role model both for younger players and also for British players going abroad to earn a living.

[russon]

Steve Simms used to eat the ground up...literally.

This picture suggests he was extremely happy to be playing for the Villa if you catch my drift.

[KevinGage]

He's a dreamboat, and no mistake.

[PaulWinch again]

Davies was excellent at a game at Anfield when he played through his shoulder injury.

[AV82EC]

Davies was excellent at a game at Anfield when he played through his shoulder injury.

Which we won 3-1 with a centre back pairing of.... yep Davies and Cuellar.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Steve Sims did a reasonable job in our promotion season, unfortunately SGT kept faith with him the following season and he was pretty much awful and out of his depth.
One of the chief reasons why we nearly went down again.