It has taken longer than some would have first expected, but Charlie Davies believes he is ready to return to first team action with FC Sochaux.
Davies has stated that he is 90 percent recovered from injuries sustained in a deadly car crash more than a year ago, and he believes he will be ably to play for Sochaux against Bordeaux on Saturday.
"I'm feeling good. Physically I haven't felt this good in a year or so, so I'm feeling like my old self which is great because that's the most important thing because we all know the football will come by itself," Davies said. "I'm sure, if I could just get a few minutes out on the pitch, then I could make the most of that chance."
Davies faces a tough battle for playing time as Sochaux boasts a pair of in-form strikers in Brown Ideye and Modibo Maiga.
Here are some other stories to get your Thursday going:
Buddle at Birmingham
Edson Buddle has been training with English club Birmingham City and a growing number of reports have stated he is with the club on trial. Nobody from Birmingham or Buddle's Los Angeles Galaxy has confirmed that Buddle's stint at Birmingham is an actual trial, but Birmingham can certainly use his goal-scoring services.
Could Buddle actually make a move to England? Securing a work permit wouldn't be easy, and you have to wonder whether Birmingham would buy Buddle from the Galaxy outright. Given Bruce Arena's recent statement about Landon Donovan not going anywhere on loan this winter, would Los Angeles really let Buddle go on loan?
One thing is clear with the Galaxy after a wild Wednesday that saw the club acquire the rights to Juan Pablo Angel and Frankie Hejduk. Bruce Arena's team is loading up for a serious MLS Cup title run in 2011.
Props to Porter
In case you missed it, I gave my take on Akron head coach Caleb Porter's NCAA championship-winning run with the ZIps for Fox Soccer. There's no denying Porter is one of the best young American coaches in the game, and having him setting the standard in the college game is doing more for American soccer than people realize.
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What do you think of the news about Davies? Excited to see him back in first-team action? Think the Galaxy would actually sell Buddle or let him go on loan?
Share your thoughts below.
Ahhh… “Trip to Birmingham” is one my favorite Irish traditional reels. I’ll have to start calling it “Buddle’s Trip to Birmingham” 🙂
Wow. You think the criticism is because he’s “overpayed”, not because he’s, you know, terrible? Newsflash: no one cares who makes how much in the Premiership. And the fact that you even entertain for a moment the thought that Roque Santa Cruz is worse than Eddie Johnson speaks volumes. Santa Cruz has scored 33 goals in the Premiership, which is 33 more than Eddie Johnson has scored (not to mention his 38 goals for Bayern Munich).
Roque Santa Cruz would eat Eddie Johnson’s cookies 100 times out of 100
I heard William the Terror is Bob Bradley.
The reports of his progress from a while back are misleading. He exaggerated from the beginning and came off as a spoiled brat when he wasn’t selected for the WC. He has been very disillusioned about what he thinks he can do since he started his rehab.
Your ignorance is staggering. Charlie was never “relegated” to the reserves; playing for the reserves is a step in coming BACK to the first team after an injury. Not saying he won’t have to work to get back, but he was never relegated. He’s there as a stepping stone from an injury. Not unheard of. Top players at top clubs do that. And Charlie will not “return” to MLS; he’s never played here. You make some good general points but seem to be pretty uninformed.
galaxy are loading up for a serious champions league run,they are makin that a priority over the mls cup.
Plus he had ligament damage to a knee right?
Charlie was a champion wrestler and nobody works harder than those guys. From that perspective he probably has a better chance than almost anyone.
His optimism is a plus, but everyone needs to just give it until the 2011/2012 season before any judgements or real aspirations debated on.
Do you have a link to the “French Cheeses” article? I would very much like to learn more about Charlie’s thoughts on brie. Thanks in advance.
Nope Eddie Johnson is the worst striker in the EPL, he sucks.
whattttttttttttttttt? There are plenty worse strikers. Eddie may suck and get loads of criticism because he’s overpayed despite sucking but look at several PL strikers. Santa Cruz for 1 makes more than Fernando Torres does, and yet Cruz only had 1 hit season his whole career and that was years back. He’s a bad striker.
there are tons more. all this hate on EJ would make sense if he say for example was starting matches and not scoring.
Related to nothing, I attach the following quote from a Guardian (UK) minute-by-minute of the Man City v. Juventus Euro League game in response to the worst striker in the EPL:
85 min: Bridge wins a corner for City. It’s cleared. “The worst striker in the Premier League is Fulham’s Eddie Johnson,” reckons Colin Forbes, who may be on to something.
At least Eddie is getting noticed!
+1
EXACTLY!
The stories up till the are all like, “Charlie Davis Says He Likes French Cheeses!”
Who cares???
Play, don’t get hurt breaking curfew, play some more. Then we’ll talk.
Quite remarkably, here’s what Davies says:
“My long-term goals have definitely not changed, they’re just maybe taking a little longer to achieve,” he said. “But in terms of moving to England and hoping to play for Arsenal one day and making a difference with the national team and helping the USA to a top-four finish at the World Cup and just to be that player that everyone can count on, that hasn’t changed at all.”
Well said. Too many people want to point out someone elses flaws and continue to hold it against them.
I agree Charlie shouldn’t be in the vehicle with somebody speeding. On the other hand, I recognize what a totally honorable guy he is to his friend if in fact what he did was true. If you had a friend that was willing to take the fall for you, to help you out, you would hold that friend in high regard.
Had Charlie not been in a nearly fatal accident, nobody would’ve blinked an eye at that story. In fact, it wouldn’t have been a story at all.
When was he caught drunk driving twice?
Wimpy welches? No wonder I couldn’t find him this past Tuesday.
You’re actually the one who should think before you speak. I didn’t question his work ethic in my initial comments, if so, you should point them out to me. So far the only things we hear from Charlie Davis is that he’s ready. If he was ready he would have been called into the 1st team by now. I’m not sure if you follow Ligue 1, I actually do and that includes Ligue 2 and have been for more than a few years that you wouldn’t refer to me as Kid.
He’s at a small club that has given him opportunities to prove himself and will continue to do so but they won’t wait for him. They can’t afford to wait for him, that’s how small they are. Sochaux develops players and sells them since they just don’t make the bucks like clubs such as OM, PSG, Lyonnais, Bordeaux, etc…
I look forward to the day when he dresses for the 1st team but until he gets to that stage he’s better off sayng nothing and just focusing on getting back to the 1st team. The rate he’s going, he’ll return to MLS next summer and no that’s not a bad thing since he needs to play.