Absolutely not true. He’s been poor regularly this season and the end of last. If he was playing well people would be writing about how well he’s doing. I can’t remember the last time he was man of the match at Oakwell which is poor considering or home form. I personally can’t understand how people can want the team to improve but are happy to stick with a keeper who’s only Championship quality attribute is shot stopping, of which for the last 6 month has not been great either.
With regards to the dissallowed goal on Saturday that some are using as a stick to beat him, there was no way in the world he could have claimed it. I sit to the right hand side of the East Stand Lower and i was almost directly across from the attack. Cavare ballwatched as the cross came in which allowed the left winger to get to the ball first and pull it back. Jota then taps in. Nothing to do with Davies whatsoever. Having said this, I was also in the same seat when Davies pulled his hand away as a low cross came in from the right - he was distracted as either Lindsay/Pinnock ran across him. Poor decision making. The point is that he's not perfect. If he was he wouldn't be playing for us. He's about as good of a keeper as we could hope for within our budget. Or our previous budget. Hopefully its an area we can strengthen. Is it the area that needs the most attention? Of course not. And as for comparing him with "their keeper". Thats John Ruddy. He's played over 100 times in the Premier League. He'll be on triple what we pay Adam Davies. Unfair comparision.
The whole team has been unbalanced. I'll give you an example. We have been playing 4-5-1, but not one of the forwards we had before Moore arrived was able to compete in the air for goal kicks and keeper clearances. The result was the ball was lost more often than not. In an attempt to redress the imbalance, Hecky took to asking our tallest midfield player (Potts) to occupy a wide position where he might stand a chance of winning an aerial duel with a full back. Of course, that means they are very close to a side line, so our keeper only has to get it slightly wrong to find touch. Is that poor distribution by the keeper or is it simply a general indication of our lack of balance. Another indication of lack of balance is the number of players that are playing on their weaker sides. Against Wolves, we had Yiadom playing on the left (natural right footer) and Pinnock playing on the right (natural left footer). If the goal keeper throws to either of these players, their natural foot is not to the outside. In that case they have a choice. Play the ball with their weaker foot (less power and less accuracy) or play the ball with their better foot (pass naturally bending the wrong way, that is towards a touch line). You may suggest that is nothing to do with the keeper's distribution, but of course it is. He is responsible for giving a player the ball in space and in a way that the recipient can control and pass it. Distribution may not be Davies' strong point, but he is certainly not helped by the faults in our set-up and balance. Domination of his box is another area of complaint, and that was particularly evident on Saturday in comparison to John Ruddy, but what we must ask is was that comparison fair. Ruddy is still a very fine keeper, and he did dominate his box, but I suppose the difference in the size of their wage packets is part of the explanation. I would also like to offer a different explanation. Adam Hammill has a lot of good qualities, but unfortunately for a winger, crossing is not one of them. On Saturday, Hammill's crossing was not accurate. Furthermore, his crosses were floated, rather than flat and fast. A floated cross gives the keeper much more time to pick the trajectory, and much more time to get there. Ruddy did look a lot better on crosses than Davies, but Barnsley helped him to look better. Davies is not the best keeper in the land, of that there is no doubt. But that is not the question. The question should be is he the best keeper for the money.
Agreed he played a big part last couple of seasons, but not this season. Also agree others have been poor and they have also received criticism when due. It's not a witch hunt, it's people having opinions on how a player is performing. If you don't agree then that's fair enough but don't think there's any need to dress it up as some sort of smear campaign. Just think he needs replacing. Don't see why it's so inconceivable for someone to think that.
Davies is a 'decent' keeper. There are worse. However, being 'decent' is not quite good enough for me. He should have compettition. His sometimes excellent saves are occasionally let down by too frequent howlers and I suspect although he saves the team points at times he also, occasionally, contributes to defeats.
Bang on. Not allowed to give criticism out on here unless the clique deem them to have a ‘heart of a pea’. You can slam Moncur, Potts and Fryers as much as you want. But give any to the favourites and you’re accused of making them the whipping boys and trolling.
Personally think he’s a great keeper who has saved us loads of points since he’s been here with some absolutely outstanding saves. Yes he’s dropped a few clangers as well, more than we or he would like this season. And perhaps he has dipped in form at times. Like all keepers. Especially those as young as he is who have had so many consecutive games. Of all the positions that must be mentally draining then he can only benefit from having competition to not only push his development on to the next level but also give him a break now and again. Added burden of captaining the team from a mental perspective as well. Great player for us, still can get a lot better, and hopefully there will be a suitable understudy who can alleviate some of the pressure he’s been under and also a more natural captain. Find it very strange that certain posters bring up Davies on an almost weekly basis - poor match or not. Hemsworth does it and gets (in my eyes) rightly pilloried for his vendettas. Whereas others choose Adam and Angus, for example, and seem to think they are any different to Hemsie. Very strange behaviour for Barnsley fans. It’s the frequency and repetition of their criticism I find odd. And an almost gleeful feeling when they feel “proven right” by a mistake or poor performance. Each to their own.
I rate Adam, but believe he's dropped a bit from his usual high standards. His form has been somewhat in and out this season, though I've no doubt he'll regain it. Even when he's not been on top of his game recently, he's still played a major part in a defence which has kept four clean sheets in the last six matches. Others can criticise him as much as they like if they so desire, but the lad still has my full backing.
I rate him and think he's more than capable but at the same time I think he's out of form and like any players who is so out of form I think he should be rested. I don't think he needs selling or replacing long term but it's a team game and I consider Townsend as much part of that team so should be given a go if his competitor for the place is out of form.
Forgot to add that I also think he should have the captaincy taken off him because he doesn't seem like a leader in the pitch but I've no idea how you do that without hurting the player you take it from
The lad's confidence has taken a knock, being stripped of the captaincy could make matters worse. I'm more than happy to let Hecky sort the issues out, his knowledge & wisdom surpasses that of any social media contributor.
Yeah that's what I meant. I would take it off him but I wouldn't as well because you can't do that without hurting him or knocking him which I wouldn't want to do.
Seems a pretty spot on analysis to me. Davies has suffered a dip in form. He has no viable competition so we cannot rest him until he recovers. People don’t ask the right question is he the best keeper in the league? Probably not. Is he the best keeper we can afford? Probably.
Well at least I know you are not having a pop at me with your post , as I never slam any player who plays for the club . I am often disappointed with individuals performances after a game but I would never publicly slam a player , as I think it is counter productive & when people do this , they sometimes get personal & insultive which I believe is way out of order , & to be honest , although I get accused of being a happy clapper , that is one of the reasons I will spring to a players defence . In an earlier post , I said that I thought that Davies this season had not been at the top of is game but I feel as a club & a fan base we should back him & currently I think he is getting too much stick , but that is my opinion
I don't think anyone, especially Davies himself, would have expected him to captain the team as often as he has had to, because of Angus' various issues. Therefore if we were perhaps to appoint a new captain - Lindsay perhaps - it perhaps wouldn't be such a hurtful thing to do because he was never appointed captain in the first place, rather vice-captain. He could remain vice-captain, but the captaincy be given to someone who plays regularly at the moment
Both Angus and Davies felt like default appointments due to being only senior players left other than Bradshaw, Jackson, Yiadom and Hammill. Would personally love Hammill to captain the team. Or Yiadom if he was to sign a new contract. Lindsey in a year or so, not sure he’s vocal/confident enough yet. Jackson was showing captain materiel before his injury. Think the major problem is we don’t have any leader in central midfield. Captain or otherwise. Hopefully the current lads will grow in confidence as they adapt to championship or find consistent form. Williams shows the most but is still young. A real leader like a Leadbetter/ Hourihane type player is the missing link for us I think. Would love us to sign that type of player but imagine they are either expensive or would mean breaking our under 25 policy. Which for a critical position I hope we would.