Anyway, you should know the drill by now, I never miss an opportunity to hassle someone and unfortunately for him, Kevin Davies was that man!
WL: Kevin, you started your long footballing career way back at Sheffield United, your boyhood club. You were released at 15, how hard was that decision to take?
KD: It was at the time yeah. It was a club I supported and a club I was at for a few years. Looking back now it was a blessing in disguise really to be honest because 6 months later I joined Chesterfield and it went from there. At the time it was difficult but it wasn't taken too hard and with my family behind me, pushing me on, I never looked back really.
WL: Was it pleasing to move there, even though you dropped down the leagues, with it still being fairly local to you?
KD: Yeah, like you say, they sort of snapped me up from the Sheffield boys side. There's was a lot of players that signed for some top teams before me and I was one of the, if not the last to sign. However, not many of them have gone on to do what was expected of them and haven't really had the career that I've had. I just decided to keep going and managed to get a good opportunity at Chesterfield and I just took it really.
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| Davies (blue) tussles against Middlesbrough for Chesterfield |
KD: No, not at all really. As you say, I was young at the time at around twenty years old I think and I made some good friends down there and settled in really well. It's a lovely part of the world down there. I sort of had a good half-season there and picked up and injury. It didn't really pan out the way I wanted it to and I moved to Blackburn that Summer. I ended up moving back and I've got to be honest, I really enjoyed my time down there, I've still got a good number of friends down there and fond memories.
WL:You mentioned you've been there (Southampton) twice and even though you're at Bolton now is it still a club close to your heart?
KD: Yeah, definitely, like I say, I made plenty of friends down there and really enjoyed my time. We played some good football in my three and a half years there, had a good lifestyle and played with a great squad of players as well - There were really some fantastic players in that team.
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| KD celebrates a goal for Southampton |
KD: Yeah, for whatever reason it didn't work out in the end at Southampton. The new manager - Gordon Strachan came in and I didn't quite fit in. My face didn't fit for one reason or another which was a shame. At the time I was around my mid-twenties and I went out on loan to Millwall to get a few games and to get a bit of experience. I knew that there was a very slim chance I'd get a new contract there with Gordon Strachan so went to Millwall and got some games. I went to Bolton for a trial sort of thing that Summer, did okay and it really just went from there.
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| MISTAKE: Strachan allowed Kevin to leave |
KD: No, no, I don't think it's going to happen again. I worked extremely hard to get there and had been on the fringes of the squad a few times, certainly since I've been at Bolton. I greatly enjoyed the experience overall and it was a great honour to pull on the shirt and get out there. I had a few close calls and a few heartaches and I was disappointed not to maybe make a few more but that's just football for you.
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| INTERNATIONAL: Davies on England duty |
KD: Yes. We've had a steady start but we've got a good and we're looking to bounce back straight away. That's the plan.
Many thanks to Kevin for taking the time out to speak to me.
Also, thanks to Jennie Kozlowski and her Bolton Wanderers media team for helping to ort the interview out - Good luck for the season.
Some photos courtesy of The Guardian , The Sun and the Daily Mail.
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