Why Curtis Davies Would Improve The Derby County Defence
It remains to be seen whether or not the Rams are going to continue their pursuit of Newcastle’s Grant Hanley after they announced that they have signed Hull City man Curtis Davies for an undisclosed fee.
The 32-year-old former West Brom, Aston Villa, Leicester and Birmingham man certainly knows his way around the Midlands and becomes Gary Rowett’s first signing as Derby boss. Davies will play against his former team next season after Hull were relegated from the Premier League, where his own performances were solid enough as usual.
In 26 games at the top level last term, Davies was Man of the Match on two occasions for the Tigers, producing 1.5 tackles, 3.5 interceptions, 1.3 blocks and 6.7 clearances per game all season. Although he didn’t manage to get on the score sheet, he remains dangerous in the opposition box from set pieces, contributing 2 assists last season.
In well over 400 games as a pro, Davies has scored 26 goals and at 6’2”, he presents a major presence during free-kicks and corners, adding another dimension to this Derby County side.
All things considered, Davies can be described as a Premier League player. That is, at 32, even if a top level club had not come for him over the summer, and had Hull stayed up, they would undoubtedly have retained Davies and he would not have let them down.
Derby are very much a team expected to challenge for promotion next season and so this looks like a match made in footballing heaven; a player not interested in winding his career down and a club looking to get out of this league and not simply consolidate their position.
As it stands, next year’s Championship is way more open than the one that recently finished. Aston Villa lead the way in the betting but Derby are a very close up 5th favourite to win the league and you can be assured that they will rocket up the ratings should another couple of good signings follow.
For now though, the capture of Curtis Davies should be seen as a major positive. Championship winners of the past have always relied on an excellent spine; goalkeeper, centre-backs, central midfielders and a top striker. Derby have work to do in this regard, but have started off in the right way. The attitude should simply be to trust Rowett and remain positive.
Gary Rowett knows his centre-backs. He was a thoroughly decent one himself and has been given autonomy by the club owner to pick his own players. I have no doubt that he’ll get it right.