NEVER MIND RONALDO, HARRY IS NEARLY AS GOOD AS RON DAVIES!
LIONEL MESSI and Cristiano Ronaldo were the reference points but, with Harry Kane, it is worth starting closer to home. If he scores against Huddersfield tomorrow, Kane will be up there with Ron Davies. And that’s quite the compliment. At his peak, Davies had days when he was close to unstoppable and his strength and ability in the air were legendary. On August 16, 1969, he scored four goals, three of them headers, for Southampton against Manchester United in a 4-1 win at Old Trafford. United manager Sir Matt Busby said Davies had no equal in Europe. He was top goalscorer in the old First Division with 37 goals in 1966-67, and joint top the year after, with George Best. And it is in the middle of those campaigns that Davies set his benchmark. From the start of the calendar year, January 1967, to the end of September, Davies scored 26 league goals. It is a run that has remained unbeaten in the half-century since. There have been many great goalscorers since but none that have beaten Davies over that time frame. Kane will, if he scores twice at Huddersfield. And yes, it is a rather strange milestone across a rather arbitrary period, but anyone that Sir Matt acclaimed as Europe’s best must have been some player — and Kane is up there now. Strange that we find it easier to compare him with Messi and Ronaldo, rather than a Welshman like Davies. Maybe it’s because he is one of our own that his achievements remain undervalued.