After the being dropped for Paulo Gazzaniga and the arrival of Artur Boruc its hard to see a future at Southampton Football Club for Kelvin Davis.

They say a week is a short time in politics and certainly Kelvin Davis will feel thats the case in football, as we travelled to Arsenal he was the undisputed first choice goalkeeper at St Mary's, fast forward seven days and he is now third in the peckig order.

There is no doubt that in leaking 14 goals in their opening four games that Kelvin hadnt covered himself in glory, indeed there were more than just a couple that he really should have done better with, being caught out on his near post too many times to be just co incidence, but there wern't many Saints supporters that would have predicted that he would have been dropped for the inexperienced Gazzaniga against Aston Villa on Saturday, many thought that perhaps this might be a game for him to get his confidence back in, in reality Nigel Adkins thought the opposite, that it was a chance to blood his back up keeper.

With Gazzaniga looking the part and the arrival of the very experienced Artur Boruc, Nigel Adkins has some thinking to do for Saturday, but sadly Kelvin doesnt look likely to be in that thinking at this stage, unless Boruc does need a few weeks to get match fit, ironically on the day that he turns 36 when he thought he might be on Merseyside, he could well be at home reflecting on his future.

Kelvin has been a good servant to Saints, his first two seasons with the club were fraught and it would be airbrushing history to be completely kind to him, he arrived shellshocked from Sunderland where he hadnt impressed in his one season on Wearside as they went down from the Premier, initially although not earning rave reviews at St Mary's he was adequate and Saints headed towards the play offs, but by March Kelvin was stuttering and so were the team, an injury to him saw Bart Bialkowski brought into the side and to be blunt a series of great displays by the Pole helped drag Saints back into a play off spot.

The following season Kelvin found himslef on the bench for the opening games, however many felt George Burley was throwing Bialkowski to the Wolves and with a makeshift defence in front of him the young keeper's confidence was destroyed and Kelvin was back in the side, things were no better and a drubbing at Sheffield Wednesday saw supporters turn on the keeper and various hand gestures exchanged by both sides. in certain aspects this season mirrored the first, only this time it was the arrival of Richard Wright on loan that deposed him and again some great performances from Wright helped keep Saints up.

The following year saw Kelvin finally accepted by Saints fans, as we went down to league 1 with a team of youngsters in front of him, this is ideal territory for keepers as they have a lot to do and can mkae a lot of saves, Kelvin proved that he was a great shot stopper.

He could have gone to West Ham on loan in the summer of 2009 but hung on and signed another deal for Saints as they rebuilt their team after the arrival of Markus Liebherr, in the three years since his displays have been a lot better than his first two seasons although he has not been pushed for his place up until now.

Its hard to see a future for kelvin at the Club, the focus is very much on younger players, Boruc is only on a one year deal, but Gazzaniga is the hope and behind those two is the rated Cody Cropper, turning 36 this Saturday its hard to see a way back for Kelvin this season or going forward.

At this age he needs to be playing games, so the most likely outcome is that he will be going out on loan, perhaps not straight away, it would be folly to do that until both Gazzaniga and Boruc have bedded in, but after that its hard to see him wanting to kick his heels every Saturday at home in the garden and with Cropper being developed in the U21 side he wont even get a game at that level.

Good luck to Kelvin and a thank you to him, he has been a loyal servant to this club, stranger things have happened, but its hard to see him playing another game for Saints in the League.          

Photo: Action Images

Butty101 added 09:40 - Sep 24 Dont they say a week is a long time in politics
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SaintNick added 09:51 - Sep 24 your right they do say that, but im not going to give an uniquivical apology for this faux pas until after the secret papers are released in 23 years time
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stmichael added 10:18 - Sep 24 Its not hard to see a role for him at saints at all. I dont know if he is taking his badges or not but get him on the staff. Held in great respect by ALL the players . Goal keeping coach perhaps?
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1970 added 10:19 - Sep 24 Sometimes the timing of your comments feel a bit out of order but your right in saying this was a big decision for Nige just like taking Fox off at ht cos he was s**t I took a friend to the memorial cup and warned him about forecast in goal then when we conceded against Anderlect in schoolboy fashion he said your right he is s**t i had to confess it was Davis our number 1,he replied oh dear.

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VJC added 12:15 - Sep 24 Kelv is a great role model for our younger players and I don't see why he can't stay on in a back-room capacity as a mentor to them, at least until he gets his badges. Then if he's right for us keep him as a GK coach. If the smallest bit of his loyalty gets passed on to our teenagers it'll be well worth it. Even if it's done some other way, I do hope the club repay his loyalty to us in some way & personally I think that they will.

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bstokesaint added 12:41 - Sep 24 It's pretty naive to assume that Kelvin has played his last game for us. It's also unfair to treat him as a scapegoat for all of our recent results. I for one have seen nothing of Boruc or Cropper and only one game from Gazzaniga. Okay he looked alright in a what was essentially a fairly easy game for any keeper. Let's also not forget that Kelvin is the club captain and the whole thanks for everything, but we don't want you anymore is a touch disrespectful. As NA constantly reminds us there is a unity in the dressing room and we'll need that unity over the coming months. If Gazzaniga has a 'Bart in the headlights' game then we may end up relying on Kelvin again. I for one would like to see him get a game tomorrow night to keep him competing and prove he's worked on protecting that near post.

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st_bangkok added 12:44 - Sep 24 With all due respect to KD, great servant and all that but s a GK coach, err no thanks. We need to teach GK's to command their box and come off their line etc.
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SaintNick added 12:47 - Sep 24 I think people need to get a dose of reality about what football is like today, Kelvin has been a good servant, but he isnt up to the job, but i didnt run Kelvin down in this piece i merely said what i thought would happen and that is a loan, a chance to get his confidence back and he could always be recalled if the other two (i dont include cropper as a first team possibility, merely that he would block Kelvin playing in the U21's) Making Kelvin goalkeeping coach is a thought, but what about the exisitng coach and his staff, would that undermine him, to become a coach he would need to retire first i feel and i dont think he is ready for that

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bstokesaint added 13:12 - Sep 24 Nick, I understand what football is like today. I've seen football managers under pressure after just 3-4 games. I listened to Saints fans saying how "out of his depth" NA was and how he'd "lost the team" and "was only good enough for the Championship", yet on Saturday he was as a hero again. I've also seen Fonte lambasted, yet on Saturday he played an assured role at the back with Yoshida, which provoked reaction comments that Hooiveld is the defensive weak link and not good enough for the Premiership. And I won't even start on Fox, who probably has the least going in his defence right now. All harsh comments given the level of opposition we've played to date. Against one of the weaker Premiership sides we coped well and that's what we should have expected. That is the real dose of reality for me and I think some of the criticism to date has been a touch harsh, not just for the keeper. What I do agree with is that some players such as Lallana, Lambert and Schneiderlin are looking comfortable at a higher level.

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cotswoldsaint added 13:22 - Sep 24 Kelvin's performance at Leeds last season should at least go down as one of the pivotal moments in the club's recent history and helped us get promotion. A good memory to leave us with before he moves on
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SingaporeSaint added 14:24 - Sep 24 Davis has in general been a good keeper but as Nick points out in the article - he has struggled on a number of occasions for Saints already at a lower level of football than we are playing now. Our defensive form with him in goal this season has been poor - not just in the league games but the friendlies too - we lost 0-1 and 0-4 with him in goal in the first team friendlies pre season. So thats 19 in 6 games. Goalkeeping is increasingly a game for big, athletic individuals who can dominate the box and ensure you dont defend too deep, how many goals have we conceded with the ball in our 6 yard box... On many levels Davis does not look the part in the top flight. I would be very fearful of him taking crosses against Fellani next week for example. A need for a stronger keeper was predictable through the summer and with a top class keeper I think we'd have more points on the board now. I echo the thanks to KD, especially in the darkest times he showed loyalty but to counter that we gave him opportunity when his stock was low at Sunderland and given him many years of big pay checks. I dont think he will go out on loan and stay through the year end and if Gazza/Boruc are doing well I can see him moving on in Jan.

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smiffdub added 14:48 - Sep 24 I pointed out last week that at this level you cannot stick with a bloke who's let in 14 goals in 4 games. Doesn't matter how much you love him, respect him, owe him, etc. Putting Gazzaniga in was the ONLY thing NA could have done this week. Let's hope Boruc is worth his salt, Gazza becomes reliable back-up and KD plays only in an emergency. Still the big question keeps coming up in my mind: why didn't we get a new keeper in the sumer?

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Zambucco added 15:47 - Sep 24 Another insightful article Nick, nothing wrong with your comments or timing. Although nigel has stated it's "altogether as one" or "grabbing an oar" it's obvious he's going to pick what in hie opinion is the best squad. Don't let his affable manner and cute smile fool you, he's a very good manager of men and teams and does what needs to be done, for example making Rickie sub against Man City. Letting Billy sharp go out on loan and to a lesser degree Hammond to Birghton. What I do know is that, Gazzanigga has a commanding stature that has been lacking, he also saved a fine shot at the near post from Bent on Saturday, In my mind it would be logical to give him a run. I do wish others would read Nick's articles a little more carefully and not jump down his throat. He never bad mouths players, merely points out their shortcomings, and offers opions and possible solutions/outcomes that are generally shared by a lot of others. Disagree with them, but don't castigate the man!

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splurty added 20:18 - Sep 24 Well said zambucco ,positivity rubbs off #togetherasone coymightyreds
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geezershoong added 10:48 - Sep 25 A lot of praises being sung for Gazzaniga after one game... we'll see in the coming weeks.
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ExiledSupporter added 11:12 - Sep 25 I want to endorse Zambucco's final para, well put and absolutely right. Like many others I want to commend Nick for his insightful and interesting articles and urge others to read them more carefully and thoughtfully before springing to the attack (often unwarranted) As it happens I am not sure Nick is right about Arsenal being KD's last game. Although I have regularly criticised his erratic, sometimes minimal, command of his area (especially the six yard box) and therefore relieved to see him stood down, I am not convinced that he is forever out of NA's plans. The failure to sign an experienced keeper over the summer says to me that NA thought that he could rely on KD, with Butland as a serious contender, I suspect that he will not have changed his mind all that completely and might send Gazzaniga out on short term loan arrangements! Not that I think that is what he should do.

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