Too Honest for his own good

A whole week appears to have gone by without Curtis Davies winding up those folk who used to pay his wages down at 'Olbiyan'.

If his remarks when he left about being a big fish in a small pond weren't enough, then his latest rubbed a little more salt into the wound.

Prior to the Fulham game he aired his views as to why Zoltan Gera had opted for Fulham and had not stayed on at The Hawthorns.

Davies' take was that Albion had messed Gera about and that his contract with the London club would be better structured.

"At West Brom I think he was given a raw deal in the way they tried to deal with his contract and I don't blame him for leaving really", said Davies.

It actually wasn't too far removed from what Tony Mowbray said of the player before Albion's game with Fulham earlier this season. Mowbray said: "It appears to me it was about security for Zoltan when he left without going in-depth about contracts.

"I'm talking about the way our contracts are structured slightly different to the way they are at Fulham. He probably gets slightly more security for the next four or five years at Fulham."

But that will cut no ice with Albion fans at Villa Park next month. It's easy to forget that with all the European, Premier League and FA Cup talk the derby takes place in a little over five weeks.

Davies' honesty, as ever, needs applauding in an industry where it shines like a beacon and where managers cannot use the term Mickey Mouse for fear of an FA charge.

But sometimes, just sometimes, an occasional: "That was his decision and the one he felt he needed to make might have sufficed."