2009/10 will be a big season for Craig Davies.  In all liklihood, he will either score a few goals and win Brighton & Hove Albion fans over, or will be left to rot in the reserves until a League 2 club comes in for him in January or next Summer. I am a firm believer that, unfortunately, it will probably be the latter.

The striker couldn’t have asked for a better start to his Albion career, with a goal on his Withdean debut. However, his short career in Sussex has gone spectacularly down the pan since then. A costly miss in the closing stages of the Seagulls’ game against Northampton was the first in a series of wasted chances from the striker, the majority of which have come from inside the 12 yard box. After approximately the 367th miss, an effort blazed over in the closing stages of a dreadful 2-0 deafeat at MK Dons, Davies was booed by frustrated supporters who sung “what a waste of money” as the forward once again held his head in shame in front of 2000+ Albion fans.  It is little wonder he has earned the nickname ‘Barndoor’, in view of the fact that frankly, he couldn’t hit one that was 36ft wide, let alone a particular mammal’s body part with a certain musical instrument.  Russell Slade seemingly agreed, dropping him for the rest of the season as the team pulled of an unlikely escape.

HOWEVER:

Message board opinion however seems to suggest the majority thing he’ll come good, with reasoning such as “he needs a good pre-season”, “he hit the crossbar from 30 yards against (worst team in the league) Hereford”, “he just lacks confidence” and “give him a chance”.  Personally, if I gave him a chance, he’d only spank it over the bar from 6 yards out.

I don’t see how supporters have come this opinion. How does a striker who scored (a tap-in) on his debut lack confidence? What will scoring goals against non-league opponents in meaningless encounters achieve? Contrary to some belief, he DOESN’T have a proven scoring record, his first touch isn’t special, he doesn’t have much in the way of skills, and he certainly doesn’t have a footballing brain. Missing a game for your country because you forgot your passport doesn’t read too well on the C.V. either. PACE is, by and large, his only strong asset. But one attribute is not enough to make up for all those flaws.

Some people seem to think I WANT the boy to fail. I don’t. I would frankly LOVE IT if he scored the goals that fired us to promotion, or even a play-off place. It would be fantastic to see kids at Withdean with ‘Davies 25′ on the back of their shirts in honour of their hero. I just can’t see it happening. As things stand, I owe £15 if Davies scores 15+ goals this season. I would MUCH rather have to pay up, knowing that I haven’t been wasting cash all season on a striker that can’t finish as well as many Sunday league players. But a goal against he might of Havant & Waterlooville certainly isn’t going to change my opinion in a hurry.

Still, let’s hope I’m made to eat my words, and that the Barndoor is no more…but if he nets goals against Worthing, Stevenage and AFC Wimbledon, I won’t think anything of it. Let’s judge him on the games that matter, in the league. As things stand, these games show that as a League 1 striker, he just isn’t up to the job.