Curtis: Rams is a club in my heart
DAVIES WANTS TO STAY AT PRIDE PARK
CURTIS Davies says he would be delighted to sign a new deal with Derby County and lead the club back to the Championship.
The talismanic centre-back is one of a number of players who are out of contract at the club.
Those players, a list that includes the likes of Ravel Morrison and Tom Lawrence, are expected to have more clarity once the Rams takeover deal is confirmed.
Bristol City are one club that have been linked with 36-year-old Davies who won player of the season last term after a brilliant campaign at Pride Park Stadium.
And he says he would be happy to commit to the club in the hope he can spearhead a promotion push in League One.
“It would be massive because going back to the fact I played every minute, I came from the season before where I didn’t know if I would carry on playing football,” he told Integral Sports Management.
“I ruptured my Achilles at 35 again so as a 36-year-old, I was out of contract and didn’t know what I was going to do.
“I came back to Derby to train, I re-signed and the rest is history.
“But that is the thing in today’s game, your age is a big thing so as much as you have sniffs here and there, nothing has been that entertaining to me that would make me jump at it before having the chance to sign for Derby basically.
“Derby is a club that is in my heart. It’s the club I’ve spent the longest time at and the club I’ve played the most games for.
“To leave Derby would be very hard so it’s one of those things. I want to play football so as long as something this week could potentially get sorted, I’d be delighted to sign.
“When I won the player of the year, I said that when I was in my first year as a pro, I won League One with Luton Town and if this is to be my last season as a pro and I am not writing myself off by any means, but if it was, it would be great to win League One with Derby and take them back to the Championship.”
And Davies says Liam Rosenior has been given a “great opportunity” to manage the Rams and feels the continuity he brings is important for the young players.
Rosenior has been given the job on an interim basis after Wayne Rooney quit last Friday.
The former Hull City player did a fine job as Rooney’s number two last season as the pair almost guided the Rams to one of the most remarkable escape acts. Had it not been for two deductions amounting to 21 points, the club would have survived Championship relegation which underlines the quality of work against a backdrop of financial chaos.
But Rosenior has now been elevated to the number one position in a summer that saw him linked with the Blackpool job.
And centre-back Davies feels Rosenior has all the qualities needed to be a success.
“With Liam, he has been a massive part of everything that we did,” Davies told Integral Sports Management on Youtube.
“Most of the coaching was done by Liam and Wayne wouldn’t be ashamed to say that.
“I played with Liam at Hull City and since he was about 30, he has been a coach in waiting.
“His attention to detail, he is meticulous, he studies everything and now he’s in charge, he will study even more. If he’s watched a video twice, he will watch it three or four times because he knows it’s his head on the block now as well.
“I don’t think new players will have an issue because if they know Liam was a big part in the style of football that we played and they want to play that style, I don’t think there will be an issue.
“An issue might be that he is only interim manager so if you sign for Liam and a new manager potentially comes in and tweaks the style then it might be a bit different.
“But what I would say about Liam is that he has been a manager in waiting for a long time.
“And in my opinion he would be the right one to go with. It’s a little bit of continuity this club needs.
“We’ve gone through all the difficult stuff off the pitch but from what he had last year, the playing style wasn’t a problem.
“The fact we’ve lost a manager is difficult to take but we’ve been able to retain the likes of Liam and Justin Walker.
“That will be massive in keeping the continuity for these young lads who have been in the team and are going to be bigger parts of the team in League One. Stepping into that with the style we already know will be a lot easier.”