Ben Davies: Sorry to see the back of Sol

Ben Davies / Ben Davies / 24 September 2009 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet View Market

Ben is sorry to see Sol Campbell leave after just one match in County's colours but is confident the team can stil achieve their objectives this season.

Ben Davies on Notts County losing their most high-profile player, footballers on the move and doing your homework.

"The information is not just about our team’s performance either; the opposition is always monitored as well. Therefore, at the start of a game we will know all about the opposition’s game and tactics. A full length leaflet, of approximately 30 pages, will be in our dressing room from about Wednesday, for all our players to read."

Welcome to my weekly Betfair column. This week I am going to give you an insight into half time team talks, video player analysis and moving house.

It has been another high profile week for the club with events off the pitch very much overshadowing those on it. This week we lost to Morecambe by 2 goals to one which was a disappointing result for us. To make matters worse, we also learnt this week that our recent signing, Sol Campbell, is leaving us, only 29 days into his five year contract. It is a major disappointment for us to be losing him as he is a great player and a top bloke but I wish him all the very best for the future.

After our dire first half display at Morecambe, there was no hiding place for any of us in the dressing room at half-time. Every manager that I have worked with has different ways to address their players at half time. Some will shout and scream in the players' faces, whilst others are calmer and try and get their point across in a more refrained way. When you fail to perform you know that whatever happens, you will be in for an uncomfortable 15 minutes at half-time. It will normally consist of 5-10 minutes of the management staff talking to the players, followed by the remaining 5 minutes of one-on one-advice, as required for the second half.

At Notts County the video analysis and Assessment of the games are second to none. We have a full time video analyser who will travel to every game with us and will constantly monitor our performance, both individual and as a team. This will help the manager to see exactly where an individual is going right or wrong. The analyser reports to us on everything that we have done, for example, the number of crosses made, number of tackles that a player has won and lost and the length of time spent on the ball. So there really is no hiding place. We will then each be given a DVD of the game with all our match statistics on the cover. The lads all enjoy looking at each others' pass completion percentage and anyone whose statistics are a bit low will inevitably get a bit of stick.

The information is not just about our team's performance either; the opposition is always monitored as well. Therefore, at the start of a game we will know all about the opposition's game and tactics. A full length leaflet, of approximately 30 pages, will be in our dressing room from about Wednesday, for all our players to read. The leaflet will detail the performance of the opposition during their previous game; there will be a paragraph about each of their players, their recent results, their set-pieces and details of which way their penalty taker likes to go. No rock is left unturned.

On a completely separate note, it is a very eventful time at the minute for me personally. My wife Lisa and I are currently in the middle of moving house again. We have just bought a house and hopefully the removal van will be filled up shortly. Football is one of the only jobs in the world where one minute you can be settled in a house and a club, and then the next minute you could be transferred to the other side of the country. Or in some cases another country altogether! That's football for you. Luckily enough for me, my move came about in the summer, so we had chance to do some house hunting before we moved down. Currently, Lisa and I are living in a hotel in Nottingham, along with a number of other players who are also in the process of moving house. Although living in a hotel sounds good, you do tend to miss your home comforts, especially when you have a dog at home, who is used to being by your side and gets upset when you are away. But, being away from home from time to time is just part and parcel of being a footballer.

I would like to give a special mention to a friend and former team-mate of mine, Dave Edwards. Dave scored his first Premiership goal of his career last Sunday, for Wolverhampton Wanderers, in their 2-1 win against Fulham. Dave is a top lad and it is brilliant to see him doing so well.

That brings me on to my weekly bet and this time I am going for a long-term one. I fancy Wolves to beat the drop and I'm laying them at 3.45 in Betfair's relegation market. There is always a fantastic atmosphere at Molineux, and they have made some excellent summer signings so for me, they will definitely be a Premiership team next season.

Tags: football betting, football odds, Notts Count, Notts County, results Ben Davies, Sol Campbell