English Football League / Ben Davies / 30 October 2009 /

The Notts County midfielder discusses the arrival of a new manager who can bring success to Meadow Lane, the horrors of living in a hotel and the joys of home cooking and good friends.

In another very busy week for Notts County, the club have appointed a new manager while I have finally moved house.

Hanns Bakke has been in charge of us since his appointment on Tuesday morning. Hanns is a very hands on manager and within a couple of hours of his appointment he was on the field taking his first training session. He has only been here a few days but already the lads are buzzing with his training sessions.

So far, training has been sharp, demanding and involved the ball. The lads are enjoying every minute. The work involves very tight possession drills and intense football activity. Hanns not only is a top manager and coach, but is very approachable and I think he will achieve great things at Notts.

This Wednesday also saw me move in to a new house after months of living in a hotel. I'm delighted that the move has gone through, it's been a horrific four months in the hotel, living out of a suitcase and hearing drunks staggering up and down the corridors on Friday nights.

The thing I am looking forward to most is home cooked food. Being a professional footballer I have to stick to very strict diet and this has been near impossible whilst staying in a hotel. I cook all the food in the Davies household, not out of choice though. My wife is a lawyer and works very long hours so, as I usually arrive home no later than four o'clock, I get stuck behind the cooker. I eat very healthily during the week, then on a Saturday we go for a meal out or order a takeaway while watching X Factor.

This weekend I'm up against my former club, Shrewsbury Town. I am looking forward to meeting up with some old friends and seeing them all again. I have been fortunate enough to make a lot of good friends throughout my career. Shrewsbury Town's centre forward Dave Hibbert is one of my best friends, as is Aldershot's Ben Herd and Brentford's David Hunt who I have all met through football.

My very best friend, Andy Corbett, whom I played alongside whilst at Kidderminster when I was 18; he was an Usher at my wedding this summer and is currently doing very well at Burton Albion. My brother-in-law, Daryl Clare, is playing at our local rivals Mansfield town and I was praying for us to draw them in the FA cup so I could play against him and make it a real family affair. The boys at Notts County are great lads too and have made me feel very welcome. We get on great as a squad and I have made some very good friends here.

Speaking of good friends, this week sees Arsenal take on Tottenham and good friends Eduardo and Nico Krankjar come face to face. It is very strange playing against a good friend and it is hard not to have a laugh with them while playing. In this duel, I'm going backing Eduardo to have the bragging rights as I'm going for an Arsenal win at [1.6] and a final score of 1-0 at [11.5].

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