Time To Drop Kevin Davies

[Guest Muzzle]

Okay, I know the stick I am going to get for this, but in our current predicament, the Blackburn match highlighted our main problem.

 

Davies upfront gives us a long ball outlet, and someone who can sometimes hold the ball up.

 

What we need is a more mobile strike force (yes this is plural), who can run at a defence, who can control and pass and create problems. Blackburn had all of these scenarios,and even though they would lose the ball in the tackle, our strong defence never looked comfortable.

When the ball went to McCarthy et al, it was done in the knowledge that they could create something, when we do it, it is an outlet, with the hope that davies can get to the ball and win it, but you never actually believe Davies will score (although he did yesterday, but not from a run at the defence).

 

Solution is to play Rasiak or Helguson, and either more Diouf forward or play Vaz Te, have nolan as the breaking midfield player, campo and guthrie passing the ball, with a midfield (O'Brien, Stelios etc) able to break forward. As much as Davies works hard and we get the odd knock down from him, we need the goals, and he isn't going to get them from us, sorry, but it is a harsh fact You look at all the teams down were we are, and they all have goal scorers (with the exception of Derby and Fulham). They may lose more games then us, but whilst we can (in most cases) eek out a draw, Wigan, Birmingham, Sunderland look more capable of scoring goals than us.

Check the remaining matches, we have Liverpool (h), Scum (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (a), plus teams who are going for Uefa places, Villa (a), Spammers (h), Massives (h), with the other matches Wigan (a), Middlesborough (a), tottenham (a) and Sunderland (h), and bare in mind our away record is poor.

 

Call me any names you like, but I am looking at this without any emotion and purely on results, and we need someone to scoresome goals, and I wouldn't put my house on Davies to supply us with them

[Worsley White #1]

Okay, I know the stick I am going to get for this, but in our current predicament, the Blackburn match highlighted our main problem.

 

Davies upfront gives us a long ball outlet, and someone who can sometimes hold the ball up.

 

What we need is a more mobile strike force (yes this is plural), who can run at a defence, who can control and pass and create problems. Blackburn had all of these scenarios,and even though they would lose the ball in the tackle, our strong defence never looked comfortable.

When the ball went to McCarthy et al, it was done in the knowledge that they could create something, when we do it, it is an outlet, with the hope that davies can get to the ball and win it, but you never actually believe Davies will score (although he did yesterday, but not from a run at the defence).

 

Solution is to play Rasiak or Helguson, and either more Diouf forward or play Vaz Te, have nolan as the breaking midfield player, campo and guthrie passing the ball, with a midfield (O'Brien, Stelios etc) able to break forward. As much as Davies works hard and we get the odd knock down from him, we need the goals, and he isn't going to get them from us, sorry, but it is a harsh fact You look at all the teams down were we are, and they all have goal scorers (with the exception of Derby and Fulham). They may lose more games then us, but whilst we can (in most cases) eek out a draw, Wigan, Birmingham, Sunderland look more capable of scoring goals than us.

Check the remaining matches, we have Liverpool (h), Scum (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (a), plus teams who are going for Uefa places, Villa (a), Spammers (h), Massives (h), with the other matches Wigan (a), Middlesborough (a), tottenham (a) and Sunderland (h), and bare in mind our away record is poor.

 

Call me any names you like, but I am looking at this without any emotion and purely on results, and we need someone to scoresome goals, and I wouldn't put my house on Davies to supply us with them

 

 

All i can think to say to that is roll on ....

 

[Gonk]

Okay, I know the stick I am going to get for this, but in our current predicament, the Blackburn match highlighted our main problem.

 

Davies upfront gives us a long ball outlet, and someone who can sometimes hold the ball up.

 

What we need is a more mobile strike force (yes this is plural), who can run at a defence, who can control and pass and create problems. Blackburn had all of these scenarios,and even though they would lose the ball in the tackle, our strong defence never looked comfortable.

When the ball went to McCarthy et al, it was done in the knowledge that they could create something, when we do it, it is an outlet, with the hope that davies can get to the ball and win it, but you never actually believe Davies will score (although he did yesterday, but not from a run at the defence).

 

Solution is to play Rasiak or Helguson, and either more Diouf forward or play Vaz Te, have nolan as the breaking midfield player, campo and guthrie passing the ball, with a midfield (O'Brien, Stelios etc) able to break forward. As much as Davies works hard and we get the odd knock down from him, we need the goals, and he isn't going to get them from us, sorry, but it is a harsh fact You look at all the teams down were we are, and they all have goal scorers (with the exception of Derby and Fulham). They may lose more games then us, but whilst we can (in most cases) eek out a draw, Wigan, Birmingham, Sunderland look more capable of scoring goals than us.

Check the remaining matches, we have Liverpool (h), Scum (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (a), plus teams who are going for Uefa places, Villa (a), Spammers (h), Massives (h), with the other matches Wigan (a), Middlesborough (a), tottenham (a) and Sunderland (h), and bare in mind our away record is poor.

 

Call me any names you like, but I am looking at this without any emotion and purely on results, and we need someone to scoresome goals, and I wouldn't put my house on Davies to supply us with them

 

 

Helguson injured again, Vaz Te still finding fitness after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

 

C?ckend

[Guest Muzzle]

Than qualify your remarks, this thread is about goal scoring, not whether I like Davies or not...if you believe Davies will scorus the goals, or give us the mobility than fine, I don't think he will

[Guest Muzzle]

What an adult reply, many thanks

[Zico]

I think we should move Diouf up and play 4-4-2 but alongside Davies

 

I wouldn't put Helguson, Rasiak or Vaz Te in the team at Davies' expense

 

Davies would work fine if we played 4-4-2 with Diouf playing off him

[desperado]

Why is Kevin Davies in our side;

 

1/ Outstanding workrate

2/ Strength/Ability to hold the ball up

3/ Support play, bringing others into the game

4/ Flexibility in playing anywhere across our front line

5/ Target man when needed - like it or not our best chances of scoring will come from percentage play, often coming from flick ons from Davies

6/ Arguably the most committed player to wear the BWFC shirt in the present era

 

Yes we would love to see him score more goals, but he is the lynchpin of all our forward play, take him out of the equation and our chances of staying up will severly diminish.

[frank_spencer]

Than qualify your remarks, this thread is about goal scoring, not whether I like Davies or not...if you believe Davies will scorus the goals, or give us the mobility than fine, I don't think he will

 

can i just check who scored on Sunday?

 

See i thought it was Davies? could be wrong like?

[Arnold Jackson]

I think we should move Diouf up and play 4-4-2 but alongside Davies

I would have said that too Zico, but this is exactly what we did first half v Blackburn and we didn't look like scoring... however when Rasiak and Davies played up front together and Diouf was on the right we had a spell where we completely battered em and looked quite capable of getting a hatful of goals.

 

Would also like to disagree with the 'drop Davies' theory but in a much more constructive and respectful way. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on this forum and I feel this particular thread has been harshly hammered.

Edited February 25, 2008 by Arnold Jackson

[HR]

Muzzle, are you suggesting changint the formation or personnel? If you are suggesting we adopt a 4 - 4 - 2 more often as was 2nd half against Blackburn then I agree, especially at home matches. If the idea is to drop Davies and replace him with a Rasaik & Vaz Te combination then I hope the pills kick in after dinner. Yes, we could do with a tall, mobile, pacey, strong, freescoring centreforward who can hold up the ball, answers on a postcard.

[pete harry]

Wasn't it his flick on that Diouf scored from against Madrid? Personally, I thought davies and O'Brien were our best players yesterday. As for suggesting that Rasiak is more mobile than Davies..... I'm speechless.

[Fleetwood White]

Okay, I know the stick I am going to get for this, but in our current predicament, the Blackburn match highlighted our main problem.

 

Davies upfront gives us a long ball outlet, and someone who can sometimes hold the ball up.

 

What we need is a more mobile strike force (yes this is plural), who can run at a defence, who can control and pass and create problems. Blackburn had all of these scenarios,and even though they would lose the ball in the tackle, our strong defence never looked comfortable.

When the ball went to McCarthy et al, it was done in the knowledge that they could create something, when we do it, it is an outlet, with the hope that davies can get to the ball and win it, but you never actually believe Davies will score (although he did yesterday, but not from a run at the defence).

 

Solution is to play Rasiak or Helguson, and either more Diouf forward or play Vaz Te, have nolan as the breaking midfield player, campo and guthrie passing the ball, with a midfield (O'Brien, Stelios etc) able to break forward. As much as Davies works hard and we get the odd knock down from him, we need the goals, and he isn't going to get them from us, sorry, but it is a harsh fact You look at all the teams down were we are, and they all have goal scorers (with the exception of Derby and Fulham). They may lose more games then us, but whilst we can (in most cases) eek out a draw, Wigan, Birmingham, Sunderland look more capable of scoring goals than us.

Check the remaining matches, we have Liverpool (h), Scum (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (a), plus teams who are going for Uefa places, Villa (a), Spammers (h), Massives (h), with the other matches Wigan (a), Middlesborough (a), tottenham (a) and Sunderland (h), and bare in mind our away record is poor.

 

Call me any names you like, but I am looking at this without any emotion and purely on results, and we need someone to scoresome goals, and I wouldn't put my house on Davies to supply us with them

 

i understand where your comeing from, but for me Davies is the first name down on the team sheet!!

[TheWanderer1958]

Okay, I know the stick I am going to get for this, but in our current predicament, the Blackburn match highlighted our main problem.

 

Davies upfront gives us a long ball outlet, and someone who can sometimes hold the ball up.

 

What we need is a more mobile strike force (yes this is plural), who can run at a defence, who can control and pass and create problems. Blackburn had all of these scenarios,and even though they would lose the ball in the tackle, our strong defence never looked comfortable.

When the ball went to McCarthy et al, it was done in the knowledge that they could create something, when we do it, it is an outlet, with the hope that davies can get to the ball and win it, but you never actually believe Davies will score (although he did yesterday, but not from a run at the defence).

 

Solution is to play Rasiak or Helguson, and either more Diouf forward or play Vaz Te, have nolan as the breaking midfield player, campo and guthrie passing the ball, with a midfield (O'Brien, Stelios etc) able to break forward. As much as Davies works hard and we get the odd knock down from him, we need the goals, and he isn't going to get them from us, sorry, but it is a harsh fact You look at all the teams down were we are, and they all have goal scorers (with the exception of Derby and Fulham). They may lose more games then us, but whilst we can (in most cases) eek out a draw, Wigan, Birmingham, Sunderland look more capable of scoring goals than us.

Check the remaining matches, we have Liverpool (h), Scum (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (a), plus teams who are going for Uefa places, Villa (a), Spammers (h), Massives (h), with the other matches Wigan (a), Middlesborough (a), tottenham (a) and Sunderland (h), and bare in mind our away record is poor.

 

Call me any names you like, but I am looking at this without any emotion and purely on results, and we need someone to scoresome goals, and I wouldn't put my house on Davies to supply us with them

 

You need to pass this on to Mystic Megson pronto, then sorted! We are staying up! And sell Davies fat, useless overrated stump......

[bwfcy2k]

Davies is a leader. He gives flexibility to our formation.

 

Helguson and Rasiak would give us nothing new in this.

 

Davies alongside somebody would be a good idea but Megson bought defenders to keep clean sheets. 5 in our last 7 infact so I can see us playing one up front for a long time yet.

[Doctor Tongue]

I would have said that too Zico, but this is exactly what we did first half v Blackburn and we didn't look like scoring... however when Rasiak and Davies played up front together and Diouf was on the right we had a spell where we completely battered em and looked quite capable of getting a hatful of goals.

 

Would also like to disagree with the 'drop Davies' theory but in a much more constructive and respectful way. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on this forum and I feel this particular thread has been harshly hammered.

 

Agreed on all points.

 

A very valid point (not one I necessarily agree with) but one that deserves more debate than abuse - IMHO.

[Guest Muzzle]

Cheers to the people with qualified answers. I believe that we need to change who we play upfront, EVERYONE who plays against knows that you get two on one with Davies, and they nullify us upfront.

 

As hard as he works, he doesn't score the goals...yes he gets flick ons, but that is his only game plan. We aren't going down for sure, but if you look at the table, Wigan winning, sunderland winning at home, Birmingham showing some fight, upfront is our weakness, we all know it, and it needs freshening up at the front....how many goals has Davies got this season? Our top striker is a midfield player.

 

Give the teams another option to worry about, all defences hate speed, yet we don't play a pacy forward.

[Fabian de Greatest]

Now Anelka's gone it'd be good to have someone else with real pace playing up front. But what are the options?

 

1. Vaz Te: will he ever come good/stay fit?

2. Braaten: shocking finisher/awareness

3. Opadeyi: too young to tell/no real experience

 

No thanks.

[frank_spencer]

Cheers to the people with qualified answers. I believe that we need to change who we play upfront, EVERYONE who plays against knows that you get two on one with Davies, and they nullify us upfront.

 

As hard as he works, he doesn't score the goals...yes he gets flick ons, but that is his only game plan. We aren't going down for sure, but if you look at the table, Wigan winning, sunderland winning at home, Birmingham showing some fight, upfront is our weakness, we all know it, and it needs freshening up at the front....how many goals has Davies got this season? Our top striker is a midfield player.

 

Give the teams another option to worry about, all defences hate speed, yet we don't play a pacy forward.

 

he scored yesterday?

 

pretty sure nolan was our top scorer the first season we qualified for europe.

 

perhaps the onus should be on the other striker to finish the chances created by davo or utilise the space he makes when they stick 2 defenders on him

Edited February 25, 2008 by frank_spencer

[jules_darby]

It is often frustrating with Davies up-front as for all the positives he brings, he is limited.

 

However, over recent months he seems to have found a yard extra pace and is beating men more often than simply holding the ball up and laying it off - this has made him an even harder prospect to play against.

 

I thought that yesterday Diouf was shocking and ineffective and would personally have taken him off. The chances that we're missing come down to individual's levels of finishing, not the fact that we need another striker ont he pitch - yesterday we could have easily scored 4 or 5.

 

However, I do like Megson's pragmatism to the formation and the fact that he's open to change it if required - something Allardyce for example wouldn't entertain.

 

Personally I'd play Davies up front every time - for games where we need to attack from the first minute in a 4-4-2 and for games against the top sides or away from home, starting int he usual 4-1-4-1.

[White Army]

he may not score many himself and may be no maradonna

But we'd score less goals than we do without him

 

Been our most consistent performer for me this season

[exiledwhite2]

It would help if Guthrie could score at least now and again. Taking set pieces away, we have a back four, Campo and Guthrie who NEVER score. Seeing as Davies and Diouf aren't prolific and Taylor is not a forward player, that leaves us relying on Nolan.

 

For mine, we need another goalscorer, not prolific but at least a threat. But not at Davies expense - at Guthries.

 

Davies is a very important player for us both from open play and from set pieces, dropping him would be criminal. And asking how many he's got this season...well, he barely played up front before did he?

 

Sorry, everyones entitled to an opinion and all that, but I think your idea is badly thought out

[Eddie]

I understand where your coming from, but dropping Davies?

 

He was immense yesterday and as somebody has said IMO he has found some more pace to make him ever harder to play against. His form did drop for a few games, but in the last 4 or 5 he has definitely got it back.

 

Something needs to change upfront. When Vaz Te is back I think he deserves 1 more chance, drop Guthrie for a few games, put Taylor back into midfield, and put Vaz into the front 3, or 2 with Diouf on the right and Taylor on the left.

 

Oh and drop Campo! He is w*nk. I no McCann isn't the long term answer but IMO he is much better than Campo in that role, or even O'Brien.

[HomerJay]

immense yesterday?

 

dont remember him winning a single header.

[M G WHITES]

drop Guthrie for a few games,

 

[jules_darby]

immense yesterday?

 

dont remember him winning a single header.

 

FFS Homo it's not that easy when there's one man holding you down and another that's 6ft 4 on your shoulders