Simon Davies

Soccerbase Datafile

After failing to land his man during the preceding January transfer window, David Moyes moved quickly to secure the services of Simon Davies from Spurs after the 2004-05 season had ended.  Davies admits the pull of Champions League football helped lure him to Goodison Park, and he believed he could help the Blues make European football a seasonal occurrence.

"It is good to be a part of it and there is a realistic chance we will be able to play in Europe for the next few years.  When you look around the training ground you can see all the pictures of trophies the club has won and it is exciting.  This club has a good history of winning things and it is a club on the up.

"Everybody is very ambitious and after the good season they have just had it has given them the opportunity to try and strengthen everywhere. It is an honour for me just to be here and to be a part of that.  It is a massive club with a big fanbase. I don't know anyone who wouldn't want to come and play for a club in this position."

Davies had been a long-term target for David Moyes, who made his first attempt to secure the winger during the January transfer window.  The club's persistence impressed Davies, who needed little persuading to make the move north once he heard a fee had been agreed with Spurs last Friday.

"The manager didn't need to do much to sell the club to me. Once I knew the clubs were talking, my mind was made up.  It was a new challenge which excited me. I had been at Tottenham for five years and this is a chance for me to try and take my football to another level."

Davies began his career as a youngster at Peterborough before being snapped up by Tottenham in a deal worth £700k at the end of 1999. He made his name at Peterborough as a midfielder, but then after moving to Spurs forced his way into the team on the left side and did very well. He made 154 appearances in five years at White Hart Lane, netting 24 goals, and has earned 22 caps for Wales, scoring four times.

Davies can play right midfield or in the centre, Moyes said: "He is the kind of player we think we've been missing — a natural player on the right-hand side of midfield.  It will give us more competition for places than what we've had there before.  He's a Welsh international, he's a good age and I think it's a good move for the boy and a good move for Everton."

"He's got a terrific energy and work rate. That is required if you're going to come and play for Everton.  He's also a good passer and a good player.  Hopefully he'll make us better with the ball.  His willingness to work hard fits in exactly with what we've got so far.

"We look at players for a long time and assess them a great length before we make a move and that's been the same with Simon.  We know that he's a bright character.  We know he can play in central midfield, he can play wide right so that gives me some alternatives."

But talk is just that: talk.  What Moyes didn't say was that he knew Davies was troubled by shin splints, and would need to be completely rested for a day after each game, thus missing the vital training sessions where they worked on synchronizing forward runs and making incisive passes. 

Consequently, Davies struggled to make an impact in his early games for Everton in a midfield that as a whole was providing little in terms of service or direction.  And the Welshman would probably be the first to admit that his first season at Goodison was a frustrating one.  Davies spent much of the season battling through the pain barrier as a series of niggling injuries and negativity from certain sections of the crowd took their toll on his performances.

With no new midfield signings during the 2006 close season and more movement up front offered by Andy Johnson, Davies was expected to get more opportunities to show why he was once talked about as a £10M signing for then Champions Manchester United a few years back. But in his last two years at Spurs he played right wing-back, so why did we buy him when we don't play that system?

Fully fit at the start of the 2006-07 season, Davies was relishing the central midfield role.  His 3 years of injury problems meant he was probably better off reverting to central midfield because he was more likely to retain his vision and passing than his pace.  He was a decent athlete but not quick enough over distance to be any more than a poor man's Arteta out wide.  Lively and energetic in pre-season, he was showing good touches on the ball and getting forward into promising goal-scoring positions.  More importantly, he looked to be regaining some confidence and appeared to be much more comfortable in possession and he began to win over some of the fans who had previously been highly critical of him.. 

Of the pre-season matches, Moyes said "Simon has been getting mentioned because he is doing well.  That's great. He's giving me exactly the type of competition we need in the midfield areas," Moyes added.  "He is technically gifted. He can play two or three roles for me." — just none of them all that well, it would seem. 

However, after being subbed in the season opener against Watford, Davies was rarely selected, and the frustration was getting to him as he continued to play full internationals for Wales, with the player himself suggesting he may have to leave Everton in January 2007.

And sure enough, despite some vacillation and denials for David Moyes, his "technically gifted" (sic) Welsh Wizard was finally on his way to Fulham for an undisclosed fee in the region of £2.5M.  The player claimed "I've wanted to come back to London for a while now," while Kevin Ratcliffe (of all people!) claimed that he was never made welcome at Everton!!!  His finale was a an utterly awful game at Wigan (that Everton won) and an utterly awful performance from him that won him Man of the Match accolades! Go figure!!!

By Michael Kenrick and Lyndon Lloyd
Last updated January 2007