Secret heartache of homesick Kev

Sunday Mirror, Jan 18, 1998 by PAUL HETHERINGTON

KEVIN Davies's emergence as one of the Premier League's finds of the season has been achieved at a cost of personal heartache - Southampton boss Dave Jones reveals today that club and player have had to overcome 20-year-old Davies's serious homesickness.

It stems from Sheffield-born Davies being separated from his family, including his dad Cyril, to whom he has always been very close.

Cyril is totally deaf and, as a result, virtually unable to talk. So exciting striker Davies can't even keep in touch with his dad by phone.

Southampton meet mighty Manchester United at The Dell in a live Sky match tomorrow night. The expectations of the Saints' fans will be high after their team's sensational 6-3 defeat of the champions in the corresponding match last season.

Fans across the country will be tuning in to see if the Saints can do the business again and slow United's seemingly inexorable progress towards yet another title.

And much of the attention will be on England Under-21 man Davies, who was joint winner of the Carling Player of the Month award for November with United's Andy Cole.

He caught the eye of the panel, which includes England coach Glenn Hoddle, with brilliant individual goals at Everton and Newcastle.

Davies became the youngest winner of the award - a distinction previously held by Liverpool's Robbie Fowler.

But what makes his success even more remarkable, after stepping up from Division Two football with Chesterfield last season, is that he's managed it despite his secret depression. It's something he's never allowed to show when celebrating his goals with fresh-faced enthusiasm.

But Saints boss Jones admits: "It was a big move for Kevin, and being away from his close-knit family made him homesick.

"He was in a hotel and it didn't suit him. He had to cope with boredom - he wasn't used to being on his own.

"He's not a big boozer but, like most people, he enjoys getting out and having a pint. He was missing that.

"I had to give him a couple of days off so that he could get back home and see his family.

"It's a long way from Chesterfield to Southampton - it's not as if he could just pop back home at night.

"We moved him out of the hotel, found a flat for him and I got a couple of the younger lads at the club to move in to keep him company.

"Kevin's sister, younger brother and dad have also been down to The Dell to watch matches and that has helped.

"I've met them all and I know how close they are."

I sat with Kevin and Cyril last April, 48 hours before the biggest match in the striker's career - Chesterfield's FA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford.

They communicate through lip-reading and Cyril, who has been deaf since contracting meningitis at the age of two, relayed this message: "I'm so proud of Kevin, but I don't like to go on about it too much because he might become big-headed!"

But 53-year-old Cyril, a labourer with Sheffield City Council, admits: "I give my feelings away on a Saturday afternoon.

"I go to Wadsley Bridge Working Mens' Club for a pint and insist that teletext is tuned into Kevin's match.

"If he scores, I start dancing round the bar."

Kevin adds: "Dad can't hear a thing, but we have our own way of communicating. And he loves his football.

"He could have been a pro himself but for his disability. He played for the Great Britain deaf team and won a silver medal in the equivalent of the Olympic Games.

"He used to be coached by Sheffield Wednesday legend Derek Dooley. They became so close that my dad was a guest on television's 'This Is Your Life' when Derek was featured."

Not only has Kevin had to cope with moving so far away from his family, he's also had to deal with the burden of being compared by Southampton fans to England ace Alan Shearer, who left The Dell for Blackburn in a then-record pounds 3.3million deal six years ago.

Jones says: "That's a bit unfair on the lad. Kevin has a long way to go yet, but the important thing is that he's a good listener and he learns.

"We've worked on how he times his runs and he needs to be more aware. For instance, all his goals don't have to be spectacular, individual efforts. I want to see him get more tap-ins.

"David Hirst and Egil Ostenstad have been a help to him.

"It's a learning process and I'm surprised that he's come on so quickly. I've got to guard against the lad becoming jaded because there is so much expectation here after what he's done so far."

Jones, though, is very happy to have inherited Davies, who was the subject of a written offer by Southampton - then managed by Graeme Souness - before last season's Cup semi-final.

The deal was completed in the summer and Jones says: "He arrived just before I did - it was the last business the club did before my appointment.

"John Mortimore, the chief scout, had recommended him. I tried to sign Kevin when I was at Stockport, but I couldn't afford him.

"With his blond hair, he's got the look of an all-American footballer. He's got raw talent and I don't blame the big clubs for taking a look at him."

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that Davies is a target, but Jones insists: "It would take an awful lot of money for us to even consider selling."