Steven Davis in The Times.

[Ewell]

A feature article on Steven Davis in today's The Times. I personally cannot read the full article online as I do not subscribe but there seems to be plenty of Saints related stuff from the tweets Henry Winter has been sending.

 

I hope this helps some and if they chose to post the article here then I wouldn't object.

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/article4654524.ece

[IN MY DAY]

Steven Davis will lead his country’s adventure at this summer’s finals in France, where he says his team can shock many

Steven Davis was central to one of the greatest sports stories of 2015, which continues in 2016. The midfielder’s goals against Greece and his leadership throughout helped Northern Ireland to qualify for their first European Championship finals, sending a nation scrambling for tickets to France. “There’s a saying going about that ‘will the last person out of Northern Ireland, switch off the lights!’’’ Davis says of the summer exodus.

Davis makes fascinating company, sitting in Southampton’s magnificent training ground, opening up on the club’s philosophy, the strengths of managers such as Mauricio Pochettino, Ronald Koeman, Michael O’Neill and Roy Hodgson, the strife of being at Rangers in financial meltdown and an FA Youth Cup meeting with a prodigy called Wayne Rooney, who also leads his country out at the Euros.

In captaining Northern Ireland to a tournament, Davis follows in the illustrious footsteps of Danny Blanchflower, Martin O’Neill and Sammy McIlroy at the World Cups of 1958, 1982 and 1986 respectively. “They are legends of the country for what they achieved,” Davis reflects. “It’s a long time ago since we qualified for a major tournament, and never the Euros. It’s beyond our wildest expectations. I think we were the first team to win a group having been a fifth seed.

“Michael O’Neill’s been a breath of fresh air since he came in. That first campaign with him [2014 World Cup qualifying] was difficult and after a result like that in Luxembourg, getting beaten away [3-2], you question everything, but the players never lost faith in the manager.

“Coming into the Greece game [at Windsor Park on October 8], I wasn’t nervous. I was excited. I’ve been around the team for ten years and it was an opportunity I’d been waiting for all that time.”

After his first goal, Davis pointed to the heavens and his wife, Tracey, used Twitter to explain the gesture was for his late mother, Laura. “I don’t score too many goals so I hadn’t planned any celebration but that was just what came to me at the time,” he says. “My mum passed away in 2008 and she was a huge influence on me. She used to love coming and watching me at Windsor Park especially. I felt at the time I wanted to give the goal to her and it was special. Mum was great.

“My mum and dad [David] travelled everywhere with me, taking me to games. I used to play for a team in Belfast, 30 miles away, which over in England doesn’t seem a lot but in Northern Ireland it does!”

His parents’ constant chauffeuring to games for St Andrews, alma mater of Keith Gillespie, the former Northern Ireland winger, and Chris Brunt, a team-mate in the national team, among others, helped to launch Davis.

“My mum and dad were never pushy parents,” he says. “They always put big importance on my schoolwork. They gave me typical Northern Irish values: ‘always be polite, respect people, work hard, do your best, give it your all, and have no regrets’.”

Davis watched the Euro 2016 group draw on the TV on the Southampton coach, returning from Selhurst Park on December 12. “I don’t think it could have been much tougher,’’ Davis says after Northern Ireland were pitted against Germany, then Poland. “I was just waiting for Italy to come out at the end!”

Instead, Northern Ireland got Ukraine from pot 2. “Everybody outside our squad and country will expect us to go out,” he says. “But there will be a determination and desire from us to upset the odds once again.

“The lads love playing for the country, love playing for Michael, love being together. We can get out of the group. There’s no point going there expecting just to play three games and go home. The one positive is we play Poland and Ukraine first and then Germany. So hopefully we can do enough to give ourselves a shout of going through.” And Germany might rest stars. “I don’t know if that will make too much difference. They’ve got a great squad full of world-class players.

“One of Michael’s positives is his attention to detail, his tactical knowledge, the way he looks at other teams and tries to find their weaknesses, and sets up against them.” Do Germany have weaknesses? “We’ll soon find out. Michael will tell us. Against any team you can always find areas where you can try and exploit but Germany are world champions for a reason.”

Northern Ireland have provided shocks before. “Growing up, I saw the videos and footage,” recalls Davis of the 1982 feats of Gerry Armstrong, Martin O’Neill and the rest, especially against Spain in Valencia. “I have huge respect for what they achieved. They are legends in the country,” he says. “Gerry was at the Greece game and came and congratulated me. He said: ‘It’s been a long time coming, go and enjoy the tournament.’

“We will have a great backing. The fans will be there in their numbers and enjoying the party. Even in this campaign with the stadium getting re-done, the attendances have gone down to 10,000 but you’d honestly think it was 40,000, 50,000 in there. They’ve stuck behind us through very difficult times.”

Davis nods at mention of Northern Ireland players being inspired by the shirt while England’s seem inhibited. “The pressure on England is immense. It does seem to be a bit of a burden on them at times,” he says. “Now with a younger squad coming through, having gained a reasonable amount of experience, you never know — the time may be around the corner for England.”

He recalls facing Rooney when Aston Villa took on Everton in the 2002 FA Youth Cup final. “Everton got a free kick 40 yards from goal and seeing this 16-year-old stepping up and having a dig from there was amazing,” he says. “He was full of confidence. He’s gone on to have an incredible career.

“I loved my time at Villa. I got a great education from Tony McAndrew, Gordon Cowans and Kevin MacDonald and then David O’Leary gave me my chance. It’s sad seeing Villa down there as they are a massive club. Unfortunately, the last few seasons they seem to be edging closer and closer to relegation. Hopefully they can get themselves out of trouble.”

He moved to Fulham in 2007. “It was a difficult period, we didn’t start the season well, and it was an early dogfight and the club made a change of manager, just before Christmas. I spoke to Roy Hodgson [Lawrie Sanchez’s successor], and he said he was happy to keep me but couldn’t guarantee me games. I did pre-season under him and he’s very well organised, does a lot of shape with his team, and lets everyone know their roles within that.”

Davis then joined Rangers, the team he followed as a boy and had trials for. He particularly relished scoring the winner in an Old Firm game in 2009. “It was a dream for me,” he says. “I always watched the games growing up. The atmosphere is second to none. Obviously the home games were special but I enjoyed playing away. I thrive on that atmosphere, coming away from home, getting the abuse, and having to dig deep. There’s a great rivalry.

“With the pressure on the games up there, Walter Smith and Ally McCoist tried to make everything else a bit more light-hearted. Ally’s a legend at the club with the number of goals, what he achieved. He helped me settle because of the personality he is. He was always lively. He used to get involved in the ‘fivos’ and very rarely would he pass!”

Rangers then went into financial meltdown. “The club tried to hide it away from the players as much as possible so we could concentrate on the job,” he says. “It’s difficult, especially with the media up there, it’s either Rangers or Celtic covering the back three or four pages of the newspapers. We were getting a daily update on the situation whether we liked it or not.

“I’d only just got the captaincy. There were days when we were going in, having meetings with administrators and training wouldn’t even take place. It was a bit of a crazy time. Rangers are a real family club, and people worked in different departments for 40 or 50 years, and you hear the possibility of them losing their jobs. You feel a lot of that responsibility as a player. We tried to do our bit, take a pay-cut for three months, but unfortunately that wasn’t enough.”

He headed on to Southampton in 2012. “This is a club that demands improvement, and that fits my personality well,” he says. “Every department, whether media, medical or kitchen staff, is trying to do their maximum to put foundations in place to give us the platform to go and do our best. There’s an incredible level of detail. I’d never done pre-activation before, filling in personal forms every morning before training to let staff know how I’m feeling.

“The Southampton Way is about always improving, doing your best, about the playing philosophy of wanting to play it from the back, possession-based, pressing. That’s been evident even with the change of managers. Pochettino was really good. His training sessions were incredibly intense and we took that intensity into games. Games almost became easier than training. With the sessions he put on, I used to come away feeling knackered and wondering how I was going to recover in time for the game. I managed to do it!”

Pochettino’s departure to Tottenham in 2014 and the sale of players such as Luke Shaw to Manchester United, Adam Lallana to Liverpool and Calum Chambers to Arsenal briefly shocked St Mary’s. “Unfortunately that’s the way the Premier League is: the big clubs come calling and it’s difficult if a player wants to go and the club is being offered good money,” he says. “But the club made an inspired appointment with the gaffer [Koeman]. The Dutch philosophy is similar to Southampton’s philosophy.

“I was aware of what a great player he was. The manager’s personality was well suited to the job because he’s quite relaxed. He has a good sense of humour.

[IN MY DAY]

Sorry two parts .....

 

He has a good sense of humour. He can get angry now and again but during the poor run before the Arsenal game [the 4-0 Boxing Day win] he was level-headed. He’s good at analysing situations and not getting too carried away with emotions. We have a good enough squad to definitely push for Europe.

“I’m my own biggest critic. I know when I’m not performing well. I find it difficult to sleep after games, good or bad. I run through situations in my head, things I could have done better. There was one last night [against West Ham] when I could have played [Dusan] Tadic through, and played it a bit short. There was another where we broke and Longy [shane Long] was in the box, and I could have played a better ball. Early on in my career I might stew a bit longer. I’ve got two young girls now. They always put a smile on my face no matter what the result.”

The oldest, Chloe, is getting ready to join the Green and White Army in France next summer, following Davis and his history-makers.

The next in line

Davis will be the fourth man to captain Northern Ireland at a leading tournament:

1958 World Cup

Danny Blanchflower The Spurs skipper was at his most loquacious as Northern Ireland advanced to the quarter-finals. “Our tactic has always been to equalise before they score,” he said.

1982 World Cup

Martin O’Neill Topped their group by beating the hosts, Spain, they went out in the second stage but O’Neill’s articulacy and leadership marked him down as future management material.

1986 World Cup

Sammy McIlroy The last of the Busby Babes was a 31-year-old veteran when he led his country to first-round elimination

Feeling at home

Davis is one of seven Northern Ireland-born players to have appeared in the Premier League this season. The other six are...

Craig Cathcart Watford

Patrick McNair Manchester United

Kyle Lafferty Norwich City

Chris Brunt West Bromwich Albion

Gareth McAuley West Brom

Jonny Evans West Brom

Ten years ago there were also seven Northern Ireland-born players in the Premier League, but 20 years ago the number was 14.

Source: Opta

[bazza]

I read that article earlier, seems a decent bloke as well as a decent player.

[david in sweden]

Steven Davis (31) and Jose Fonte (32) are the last of the experienced players who were with us when we started our first season back in the Prem. (2012)

(I'm not counting Kelvin Davis (who is out of contract in June) and JWP, who despite having played 100 games, still can nail down a regular starting place.

 

They are the last of the "old brigade ", and with all the comings and goings ..and the financial limitations placed us by UEFA, we're likely to lose more of our best - in time.

 

Steven and Jose have contracts for another couple of years, but we don't know where their replacements are coming from?, and we can only hope that adequate replacements can be found, either through development (U21/ Academy) or that "The Black Box" can turn up some new gems.

 

Either way, with a playing staff where most have had only 1 or 2 seasons at the club, we stand on the verge of a generational change, and must hope we can survive.

 

When Steven Davis eventually moves on ...we'd better hope we have someone else ready to take up the no.8 shirt, as there aren't many good candidates at present.

[DuncanRG]

A shame he's got so much else to talk about as he's one player I'd love to see discuss Saints at length. Top man.

[Picard]

I wonder how much he and Long will be saving themselves for Euro 2016 as it will probably be their only chance to participate in a World/European cup. (Probably same for Fonte and Pelle)

[adrian lord]

The bit about Poch's training intensity and the pointed lack of mentioning that the same pertains now explains and confirms the relative lack of fitness many of us have noticed since Koeman arrived.