Two-part interview with SKD

[Mar]

But I don't think anyone with any honesty can watch Kevin Davies now and say he offers us those qualities anymore. That battle and fight have gone along with the effort, determination, bullying of defenders and the legs, and everything else. He's more likely to take a dive now than battle with a defender.

It's hard to tell if the effort and determination have gone. Only SKD will be able to answer that. It does however seem that the qualities of speed and bullying have gone. Aerially he's still got it but unless we're in their half of the pitch his impact on the game is lacking. Before he used to chase everything down, put in tough challenges on the defenders and keep hassling them to make silly passes or rushed clearances. He was never a world beater on his own but he defended from the front and won the ball back.

To be honest I can see why we kept him and keep using him. He's good aerially and offers a little bit extra in our own box and flick on's in the oppositions box. But whenever he comes on it doesn't help our passing game on the ground and detracts from our build up speed. I like to think he'd work best with Craig Davies up front while N'Gog and Sordell would complement each other.

[danardif1]

I just think even with his game not necessarily being one that would be affected by age, there's no way he could keep up with the physical, yet carefully judged, game he was capable of in his prime. Football has also changed around him, and a player of his style is no longer as useful as it was against defenders. Most strikers now are either false-9's and are essentially midfielders who score a lot, or Mario Gomez-type players whose game is quite static but based on being an all-round poacher (can head, has a good eye for goal with his feet, can shoot from range) whose only service to the team's game is to be on the end of anything they send box-wards. N'Gog is a player in that category (obviously not of Gomez's quality) as is Cravies to some extent (he's a more stocky player that is there to feed off anything he's given, but with some physicality comparable to SKD).

He's a club legend (as a fan in his 20's I can only think of 2-3 modern players on the same level as him: Super John, Gudni and Jay-Jay) and I think as long as he's happy playing for the club whenever he can, he'll always give us something different in a game and always give his full heart and effort. He's probably got another 2 years in him with an 'impact sub' role like he has now.

[Prufrock]

I'd agree with you if he wasn't on Captain's wages.