You can respond like that all you like, but it's the truth. We need a better player than Steven Davis if the club is to move forward another level.
Pelle, Long, Davis, Maya..... the list goes on and will continually go on as we continue to improve. We will evolve, but why single Davis out above some of the other names in that list?
You know what.? I agreed with Tom in principle, and was going to write something, but I stopped short for the very reasons you have just put. Why single him out.? Stevie might be the next on the list, but one or two others might be very close if not before him. What happens to them.? They come out of the front line and become squad players. That's what will happen with Davis. Nothing more dramatic than that. Right up until the day he rejoins Rangers, if he still wants to.
Perhaps some day we will field a starting XI that will be so perfect the planets will align, no weak links, no scapegoats, nobody holding us back from the holy grail of the top 4. Just cold, hard results
Walking around Belfast in a Premier League Saints shirt I always get the feeling that people think I've chosen Southampton as my team to support because of our post-2012/13 season exploits. I should carry around my League One jerseys or even a Walsall ticket stub You still couldn't be accused of being a glory hunter, more a fair-weather blow-in perhaps?
Because if we did sign Goretzka he would replace Davis in the line up. If there was a thread on us signing a striker I would say the same about Pelle or Long.
It feels like glory though I keep telling my son who thinks the last 6 years (from him being 8 to 14) is what it is like to be a Saints fan, that it hasn't always been this good.
UMmmmmm, Davis is a good utility player. Can cover all positions infront of the defence bar striker. Gives you the option to tweak things mid match. He sometimes plays three positions in a match. Starting with him can also set things up nicely to introduce the impact subs. Goretzka would not replace Davis or anyone else. He'd be on the bench.
How many of our current squad would Chelsea/Man U/Arsenal/City put into their first 15? Any? I haven't included Spurs or Liverpool because they would probably just swap our whole squad for the ones they have Davis has been lucky that we have no consistent No10 and at the same time unlucky that we had Cork, Schneiderlin, Wanyama etc as DM/CM players!!! He would be in the starting 11 for every team below us including Everton I would say. We do have to improve the squad and the first team to improve our position but we would have to buy a whole 'first 11'. I don't get this constant dismissal of someone who is in reality our first choice substitute/cover and most adaptable player in the whole squad. He will still play a lot of games this season. Up front improvement is more important in my eyes. Pelle is not a Top4/6 striker and is not going to be in the few remaning years he has at this level. Hopefully Jay will be that quality but Pelle definitely isn't. Davis is much closer to top 6 quality than Pelle.
I would say both Davis and Pelle are miles from top 6 but I will continue to support them before they are replaced. To change everyone who isn't currently top 6 would massive unbalance the team in so many ways. when Spurs sold Bale they replaced with lots of players that may have been good in their own right but systematically failed as there were too many changes at once. I like to think we are just a little bit smarter than that...
Had to smile at Pelle in the press conference. He was asked if Mourinho had come in for him...he laughed and said there is no news yet. I think our strength is in our whole team. Individually perhaps a player isn't a top 6 pick, but as part of Saints he may be. I think this is where some of our sales have failed/disappointed at their new clubs....Saints make players look good. Davis definitely has a role at our club...a good player who won't let us down. Some fans expect us to have a full squad of CL-quality players....not going to happen.
Try the cooked liver served on a bed of green salad, with a raspberry vinaigrette at La Parisienne in Romsey. Oh! Am now feeling homesick...
