Davies form no surprise to Hodgson

27 November 2009 15:43
Hodgson signed Davies for £7.5million when in charge of Blackburn in 1998 but was was sacked early in the season with the striker having failed to establish himself at Ewood Park.[LNB]Following a spell at Southampton, Sam Allardyce took Davies to the Reebok Stadium five years ago and the 32-year-old has not looked back since, with his physical presence in attack even seeing him tipped for England honours.[LNB]This weekend he faces his former manager when Bolton travel to Craven Cottage.[LNB]"It's no surprise to see his form over the last seasons," Hodgson said. "It's quite strange because the summer we signed him we had a good year and got into Europe.[LNB]"People were speaking very well of Blackburn and thinking we could have another good season, and Kevin Davies was hailed as an excellent signing by virtually everybody.[LNB]"Of course the major problem was losing Chris Sutton and Kevin Gallagher in the first couple of weeks of the season. We had to throw Kevin in and when it didn't work out for him things got worse and worse.[LNB]"He certainly put that behind him and now he's a highly respected front player in the country and a player most teams would love to have.[LNB]"I'm pleased with that because I'm pleased to see I'm not totally incompetent when looking at forward players. I'm pleased he succeeded even if he didn't help me at the time."[LNB]Hodgson views Allardyce as having a huge impact on Davies' career.[LNB]"Unfortunately he didn't succeed for me," Hodgson said. "He had a bad time there.[LNB]"We didn't get any real benefit from him and he didn't succeed at one or two other clubs afterwards but Sam gave him a lifeline when his career was definitely very much going in the wrong direction.[LNB]"I've talked to him about this when I met him at Bolton a couple of years ago and he grabbed that lifeline with both hands. For the last five or six years he's been a fantastic player and a fantastic servant to Bolton."[LNB]The centre-back likely to mark Davies is Brede Hangeland, who has signed a new contract with Fulham until 2013, ending speculation linking him with the likes of Arsenal.[LNB]"I hope that this will now end months of speculation about my future," he said.[LNB]"I have always maintained that I am happy at Fulham and committed to doing everything I can to ensure the on-going success of the team."[LNB]Hodgson added: "He is an extremely important player for us and a model professional, so we are all very happy that he will be at Fulham for the long term.[LNB]"We have some very important games coming up and this news will give a boost to everyone here and I know the fans will show their appreciation."[LNB][LNB] Fulham 10/11, Draw 12/5, Bolton 16/5  

Source: Team_Talk