I hope so and I while I have complete confidence in our management team to replace him we know just how unforgiving the championship can be for players bedding in so perhaps a more experienced keeper may be a target. If Davies does go and it's looking very likely he will then he has certainly earned his move. I hope it works out for him.
Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. You can somewhat get away with an outfield player taking a few months to find his feet and get up to speed while settling into life in a foreign country. You don't really get that luxury with a 'keeper.
Shame we talk about strikers and readily accept losing Davies. Given that, whilst a couple of bloopers over the past season has been offset by matchwinning saves well into double figures, his contribution to our success has probably been on par with a 20 goals a season striker. His improvement has been rapid and replacing him with a keeper of the same standard without shelling out a lot of readies will be as hard, if not harder, than filling any outfield position. As I said before, money talks, but it is not as though footballers are on the breadline. Pity many of them can't see there is more to life than moving simply for a bigger pay packet, especially when you are in a side where you are 1st choice, have a great relationship with your manager and team spirit and future prospects at such a financially stable club are excellent. It is not always the case, in all walks of life, that people leave their current jobs just because another company poaches them with the lure of higher wages. There are many other factors to take into account.
I could possibly see us getting a keeper on loan who has more experience, but with Walton number 2, ready to step in. The lad has been progressing well, but to throw him in as number 1 keeper, without adequate cover could ruin his confidence.
I don’t think anyone’s happy to lose Adam, he’s probably the player who’s contributed most to our promotion this season. We simply can’t afford him, I could really enjoy owning a Jaguar F pace, but I’ll be lucky to get a Nissan Qashquai Other clubs can afford to pay him more, and we simply can’t match it. We won’t be paying any strikers 30k a week either, so that issue is moot.
Because he's not a top keeper and I'm convinced you could easily sign a better keeper for the same/less money. People forget how bad he was last season and fair enough he's been excellent this season in League One but he's still got a lot to prove at the level above. I'm not in any way saying he's a poor keeper and I'd love him to stay, but if the rumours of £20k per week are true I think there's a lot better keepers out there for that money.
But the reality is he was the best keeper in League One last season. He won us as many points as the strikers, midfielders, defenders, etc. Considering some of the overpaid players in the Championship, especially at team's like Stoke, then why wouldn't Davies be worth £20k a week plus to a team that can afford it? He wasn't poor in our first season in the Championship and had a horror show like most of the others in the season you're referring to. Let's not pretend we weren't anything other than an absolute mess that year. He's also coming in to his prime, age wise, for a keeper. He's not a top keeper but he's now got two promotions from the league one level below the Championship, and is a full Wales International. He's third choice for Wales behind a keeper who cost £10 million and likely picks up £40/£50k a week.
I think the only way a keeper can regress is in confidence. the mechanics of the job is about agility, assessment of angles etc. He's not lost any agility and his assessment of angles, positioning is unlikely to get worse. That leaves confidence and decision making. I'd say Davies' confidence slipped last season along with the rest of the team and he wasn't as decisive. Put a decent defence around him and give him some confidence back like he's had this season and you have him at the top of his game, just like last time we went up and his first season in the Championship. The idea that he can cut it in L1 but not in the Championship just doesn't stand up to me. He can also make just as many great saves in the Championship as this season but let quite a lot more goals in. It doesn't mean he's crap at that level, just that the defence as a whole is facing much more clinical strikers. There may be better keepers around but there's no reason the Adam Davies of L1 can't be the same Adam Davies in the Championship.
It was a very good performance yes, he’s capable. But the earlier home Walsall game we drew 1-1 and I thought he looked shaky, and he looked a nervous wreck at times against Luton at home - though did make one or two decent saves. Like i say, it’s not that I don’t rate him at all, but I don’t think he’s ready to go into a championship season as number one. He’s never been a number one at any level and throwing him in is a huge risk. We’d at least need better back up than Greatorex and Kendrick as we may end up in a situation like we had with Davies where he needed a rest but we had no credible alternative.
Happy for Davies to leave. Great servant to the club and amazing this season but now is the right time to part ways. He gets a fresh challenge and more money, we get a hungry younger keeper better suited to our style of play and more room for improvement.
How are we defining ‘top’ keeper? Top in general - or top for championship standard? It’s not like Davies is attracting interest from Premier League top six clubs, though there is premier league interest, even if not necessarily for a starting place. I don’t think there are that many markedly better than him in the second tier. He might not get in all the teams, but he wouldn’t be far off a start for a lot. He had a poor run in 17/18. He was woefully mismanaged, he was mentally shot, and he desperately needed taking out of the team for his own good. It was left far too late. He had a crisis of confidence and made some poor errors. Not as many or even as bad as some I’ve seen David De Gea make over the last couple of months. Is he crap, or is he a top, top keeper with a crisis of confidence, playing in a team that is performing terribly generally? Davies isn’t in that class of course but he’s clearly better than some of his performances in 17/18. I can see Davies’ agent fielding a wage bidding war from several clubs, and him getting well north of £20k a week as a result. It’s well known Stoke want him, so do Huddersfield. Wolves apparently fancy him as a number two. There is interest in Neil Etheridge at Cardiff, so they could be in the market for a goalkeeper, Adam being a logical fit. They do have Alex Smithies though of course. Davies looks set to leave, and he goes with all the best wishes in the world from me. If he gets 20k or 30k a week then he’s earned it with his performances this year. He’s not short of admirers and I reckon the professional coaches and scouts who are recommending his signing, and the clubs offering the money, know a bit more about these things than the fans of his present club posting on a forum. All the best Adam, thanks for all you’ve done.
Stoke will have a cheap replacement for the big Butland money. Davies would have first team football at championship level and because of parachute payments and no transfer fee probably get a million a year before tax.
Suppose it doesn't matter to a goalkeeper to be playing in a anti football side. Good luck to him if he goes. He's been one of my favourite players in recent years. I've really felt for him when he's been getting dogs abuse, and if he does leave with that in mind, some of our fans should hang their heads until they find their next scapegoat.
http://oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/thread/287919/sentinel-stoke-barnsley-keeper-davies It's refreshing to see a club linked to one of our players, where the fans aren't grumbling about it being someone from Barnsley. They are happier on their main club forum than Villa fans when linked to Hourihane, Swansea fans with Mawson, QPR fans with Scowen and many other examples.
It's hard to criticise Davies for wanting a move. Here's been here a long time and even leaving money aside he might fancy new surroundings. I think he's a top keeper and we'll miss him. But once money is factored in (and he's likely to be able to command four times what he's on at Oakwell, plus signing on fee) it's a no brainer. Hope he doesn't get asked about his contract situation tonight - embarrassing all round when he comes up with an evasive answer. Ultimately, it's goodbye and many thanks for being an excellent servant of the club.
You said he didn’t fill you with confidence at all this season. So I pointed to a man of the match performance away at Walsall. You then agree that was a very good performance, so he did fill you with confidence in that game? He’s a talent. He was shaky in the home game against Walsall but personally think he performed well in his other starts. If Stendel thinks he’s good enough then that will do for me, but I can see us signing another young goalkeeper and it being a fight between them to show the form and performances that deserve a starting place.
This. "Does tha call thissen a FVCKING WELSH INTERNATIONAL, DAVIES?" at Burton when he 'failed' to catch a ball no or very few 'keepers would get, and instead punched it a good long way away. There were people on at him all game, and we hadn't lost in the league since December!
