Kevin Davies - Why?

What is it about Kevin Davies? It seems most Bolton fans would agree he has been pretty ineffective for a year or two now but he was usually the first name on the teamsheet for Owen Coyle, and Dougie Freedman seems to be following a similar pattern.

Both managers dropped Davies for a short spell but not for long, he was soon restored to the first team.

My question is "why?"

What is it about Kevin Davies that stops a manager from picking younger, quicker players over him? It's not his goals that's for sure, perhaps it is his effort and commitment? Or is he just a "safe" option - you know what you are getting with Kevin Davies.

Anyone any thoughts?

I think its because he gives a toss. He puts 100% effort in (although the effort rarely pays off nowadays). I know it isn't the right reason to start him but that what it appears to be. We have seen him dropped a couple of times under Dougie though now so hopefully he will be dropped against Derby.

Id still like to see him on the bench though because I think he could be a useful sub.

Because he gives a fuck.

Can we stop with the davies bashing? Yes hes slow and nigh on useless, but he loves this club and sweats blood for it.

JonnyRandom wrote:I think its because he gives a toss. He puts 100% effort in (although the effort rarely pays off nowadays). I know it isn't the right reason to start him but that what it appears to be. We have seen him dropped a couple of times under Dougie though now so hopefully he will be dropped against Derby.

Id still like to see him on the bench though because I think he could be a useful sub.

I am afraid that we have seen the best of SKD and to be fair its a while since he had a performance that warranted the starts he has been given. He is without doubt though the one player who gives his all , always has and when called upon will continue to do so.Unfortunately when he plays up front on his own we struggle like fck. Its now time to let him join the coaching staff and hopefully instill some of the fire that burns in his belly to the other players and the up and coming youngsters. A great great servant to the club which no one can deny but the time has come to let others take on the challenge. cheers for all the good times Kev !!!

Really not sure to be honest, I thought Dougie was past it before the Forest game. My guess is he thinks he's the best hold up striker we have, and from a 'containment' point of view he'll defend from the front, although to be honest I don't think that's the case. If I was a defender I'd be least concerned about Davies these days.

Also I'm pretty sure he'll have started him on Saturday with tomorrows game in mind as in he was never going to be starting 2 games in 4 days the plan was to play him Saturday and a 'fresher' C Davies/N'gog/Sordell on Tuesday.

I think the team needs a settled striker to play week in week out now and see if we can get some consistency going forward, it seems we're always rotating the strikers. N'gog picks up a lot of niggling injuries so he rarely has a run of games in him, I'd make a choice between C Davies and Sordell and stick with them now, with the others being used as impact subs.

I think this one's been flogged to death Owen. Yes he cares, Yes he tries and Yes he's probably the best we've got as lone strikers go. As long as we continue to play 1 up front he'll probably play. Poor Kev - gets the shittiest job and then gets blamed for the system. He deserves better.

Owen Owen Owen wrote:What is it about Kevin Davies? It seems most Bolton fans would agree he has been pretty ineffective for a year or two now but he was usually the first name on the teamsheet for Owen Coyle, and Dougie Freedman seems to be following a similar pattern.

Both managers dropped Davies for a short spell but not for long, he was soon restored to the first team.

My question is "why?"

What is it about Kevin Davies that stops a manager from picking younger, quicker players over him? It's not his goals that's for sure, perhaps it is his effort and commitment? Or is he just a "safe" option - you know what you are getting with Kevin Davies.

Anyone any thoughts?

I think you answered your own question there. We all love the guy but his time has come to keep Lonergan company untill we need to defend a lead when it's back to the wall stuff which I still believe he can do a job, I always thought he was/is a poor Captain though, not vocal enough and if you watch him when we go behind (and that happens plenty) he seems to sulk.

Because he is still excellent at holding the ball. He did that really well against Palace and provided flick ona to the likes of Pratley. I think he is still an asset, especially away from home. Yeah, he missed a sitter yesterday but he didn't have allot to work with. He had no support from the midfield (again), when he has that he is a real handful,

I do agree though that we should be looking to use the likes of Craig, Sordell and Ngog.

For large periods of this season Davies has been our best striker, don't get that confused with me saying he is still a great striker, but he was OUR best:

we had 3

Sordell - not fit, moping about, took Dougie months to sort him out.

N'gog - yeah hes putting in good performances when he comes off the bench, but hes been bad in games which he has started this season.

K.Davies - still doing what he always has, only slower.. was the best by default really, but still the best.


So thats why. Hes now our 3rd best striker imo, and can still play a part, but id rather seem him as an impact sub really. Raking now:

1. C.Davies - I really like this guy, he should be starting, he has strength, some skill and can finish.

2. Sordell - Good finisher, nice skill, can fade away in games thought, my friend from Watford also said he could have a great game one week and not be in it the next, but hes still young.

3. K.Davies - Still wins 85% of ariel challenges (but of course headers don't count), great as an impact sub for a physical challenge to a tired team.

4. N'gog - He thinks for too long and constantly makes the wrong decisions. I think maybe this is why hes been so much more successful as a sub, the games have been faster near the end when we have needed a goal and hes played at a higher tempo. With all his height he still can't head the ball for shite.


Non of them are terrible players though, a good selection of strikers I think.

Whoever plays lone striker will struggle, but because we rarely play with two out-and-out strikers, it's difficult to work out which would be the best combination.

4-5-1 works when you have enough support from midfield. There's only really Pratley who I've seen gamble and try and get on the end of SKD's flick-ons. Holden had the right idea, he used to do it an awful lot but no one else gambles enough for me. I agree playing 4-4-2 would give our lone striker more support but then we lose a man in midfield, so we need to find the right balance really.

Jamster26 wrote:4-5-1 works when you have enough support from midfield. There's only really Pratley who I've seen gamble and try and get on the end of SKD's flick-ons. Holden had the right idea, he used to do it an awful lot but no one else gambles enough for me. I agree playing 4-4-2 would give our lone striker more support but then we lose a man in midfield, so we need to find the right balance really.

Exactly, we rarely see our midfielders get up and support or make runs beyond the striker, I'd like to see Mavies do it more often if he's playing in the AM role. As you say Holden was great at it. The lack of energy in midfield has been a problem for a while.

Jamster26 wrote:4-5-1 works when you have enough support from midfield. There's only really Pratley who I've seen gamble and try and get on the end of SKD's flick-ons. Holden had the right idea, he used to do it an awful lot but no one else gambles enough for me. I agree playing 4-4-2 would give our lone striker more support but then we lose a man in midfield, so we need to find the right balance really.

Hence the thread "is playing 2 strikers a risk or a necessity?" I'd give it a shot just to see how it goes, but would Dougie? Don't think so for now, but he may get round to it if/when we a few more points clear of the drop zone

No 442 isn't a necessity, properly supporting the striker is.

What I don't get about KD is that he can have several stinkers and continue to be picked. Ngog can score two and eventually get a start or Sordell can score 5 in 5 and then as soon as one of them has a bit of a quiet game they are back on the bench. KD seems to be the only striker who gets a real run in the side.

Marvin Sordell
8 Starts
7 Subs
6 Goals
3 Fouls

Kevin Davies
26 Starts
7 Subs
6 Goals
64 Fouls

David Ngog
12 Starts
9 Subs
5 Goals
20 FOuls

wanderlust wrote:

Jamster26 wrote:4-5-1 works when you have enough support from midfield. There's only really Pratley who I've seen gamble and try and get on the end of SKD's flick-ons. Holden had the right idea, he used to do it an awful lot but no one else gambles enough for me. I agree playing 4-4-2 would give our lone striker more support but then we lose a man in midfield, so we need to find the right balance really.

Hence the thread "is playing 2 strikers a risk or a necessity?" I'd give it a shot just to see how it goes, but would Dougie? Don't think so for now, but he may get round to it if/when we a few more points clear of the drop zone

If he insists on playing Davies and we have 2 strikers upfront, id consider him in a 4-4-1-1 instead of a basic 4-4-2, the reason for this is that kev could play behind either Ngog, sordell or cravies - this would allow us to utilize his 'ball-holding-up' capabilities, but also allow him to flick on to a striker with pace who can nip past defenders and score.

He's useless up front on his own.

You're right RR, he's not an opportunist goal-grabber by any means. I still think he should come back up the park, midfireld, defence, or preferably in the crowd behind the goal

Because he trains hard and gives it his all, I agree with some fans though,he should start with CD, or Sordell, bring SKD on when were 3-0 up .

He still has something to offer. I think he showed when he came on against Burnley, he can still make an impact. Better to throw him on with other attackers to try and get back into the game if behind.