Reigning Player of the Season Curtis Davies was pleased to extend his association with Derby County for a further year after signing a contract until the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign.
The defender, who played every minute of Derby’s 2021/22 league season, is the next player to commit his future to the football club as the Rams prepare for the upcoming Sky Bet League One campaign.
Speaking to RamsTV following the news, Davies explained his emotions of the last couple of months but his delight at getting his new contract sorted and kicking on in the new season.
On Signing His New Contract…
I’m happy to get it done. I’d seen rumours that I’d signed and everyone was waiting for this big reveal, and I’d signed a two-year deal, but none of it was true and I literally signed five minutes before doing this interview! It’s like anything, you take time to think about things, think about what comes next and I’m just happy that I’ve been able to sign and stay at this football club and hopefully I can help the club get straight back into the Championship.
On The Last Few Months…
We went from a position where we had a takeover in place a few months ago and unfortunately was that dragged on, and I’ve been at this club a long time, alarm bells start to ring. Eventually it fell through and then you panic. You start wondering if you will be able to sign for this football club or another club and all these things go through your head. It’s a difficult time as a player but obviously you have staff, people who work in the kitchens or the ground, all worried about their livelihoods and not getting answers so when I was speaking out in the media, I was just being honest. If I was the only person who could actually have a voice box for people at the club then I guess that was my role. We didn’t have a leader in terms of an owner and nobody that could come out and clarify anything so it was a difficult time. Luckily the new owner has come in and thrown his loyalty to the club and has saved us. It’s well documented that he had no plans to get involved in football but he couldn’t sit there and see his football club go out of business so it’s a big credit to him. It’s going to be a big difference for him in terms of the types of business he’s involved in, but he’s a successful businessman so he will know what he’s doing. It’s about us now being able to do it on the pitch and get the club back to where it belongs.
On Why He Wanted To Stay At Derby…
It’s my club. I’ve said it before, and it’s mad to say it, but I can’t see myself in another team’s shirt. I’ve said many times that Leyton Orient would be the only other shirt that I would want to wear and I was always going to give it as long as possible to stay at Derby County. I belong here, everything that this club is about, everything this club wants to be moving forward; I want to be part of. We are starting from scratch again with new ownership now. It’s a new-look squad but it’s exciting times because with the squad that we’ve got, the players that we have signed, I think if we would have signed them in the Championship then our fans would have been delighted. I’m not saying it’s a given, but it’s important that we realise we have the quality in the changing room, we have the characters and experience in terms of winning promotions in the changing room but it’s putting it together on the pitch and making sure we do the right things week in and week out to get us back up.
On The New Signings…
I know everyone! I’m just that old that I’ve played against everyone or I’ve got mutual friends! The likes of Conor Hourihane, I know him via Villa friends but also I did my coaching badges with him. I obviously played with James Chester at Hull City and David McGoldrick, I’ve played against him loads of times but we have mutual friends so there isn’t a person I don’t really know.
On Other Offers Available To Him…
There were things presented to me that were verbal but there was nothing that really interested me more than giving Derby County the chance to give me their offer. I was stalling on offers elsewhere to try and get my offer here. I wanted to be at this football club, I wanted it to happen, it took a little bit longer than we expected but ultimately I’m happy to be here and I’m happy to be part of this group and wear the Ram on my chest.
On Pre-Season So Far…
I’m feeling good, considering I missed the first week. At my age, people sometimes say that is a blessing because you’ve had a week off the running and then you’ve got to catch up, but touch wood I’ve got back into it quite well. The games are good to see what level you’re at and positionally as well because you can be as fit as you want out there but when it’s 11v11 on a proper pitch in front of fans, it’s how the body reacts. As a centre half that is vital and I can put in some good performances.
