Davids takes positives from Keane bust-up
Edgar Davids claims his training ground bust-up with Tottenham team-mate Robbie Keane has benefited Martin Jol’s team as they seek to clinch a place in the Champions League next season.
Spurs face fifth-placed Blackburn at White Hart Lane tomorrow knowing a victory will boost their hopes of finishing in fourth spot.
Tottenham have managed to remain in the top six all season but last December their ambitions appeared to be under threat from within the camp when Davids and Keane traded blows in a training ground incident that forced Jol to read them the riot act.
A heated argument between the duo during a practice match continued to fester as the players returned to the Spurs Lodge dressing rooms.
The ill-feeling then spilled over into a brawl before fellow team-mates separated the feuding stars.
Keane was left with red marks on his face and Jol later ordered them to patch up their differences in his office before the home game with Sunderland.
Keane, who signed a new four-year contract on Friday, later played down the row but now Davids has insisted the bust-up did nothing but good for the squad.
“It is a very good thing that happened between me and Robbie Keane,” explained the Dutchman.
“We had an argument and then we spoke about it. It is good because he said something that was on his chest and then I said what was on mine. We didn’t beat about the bush. We had a discussion, we talked about it, it was over and down with and we moved on.
“Now the relationship with Robbie and I is even better. We have both grown from that discussion.”
Davids added: “It is good in a team that you talk about things even though you sometimes clash. It is good to get things out in the open. It is not good if everyone says ’yes’ when they mean ’no’. If these things are constructive and good for the team then it is OK.”
Davids’ all-action style on the pitch is matched by his no-nonsense approach to speaking his mind.
Keane is not the only one to have been on the receiving end of a verbal bashing from the Dutchman – coach Jol has also been a target for his forthright opinions.
“It is good if you get along and have the same vision of football,” declared Davids.
“Sometimes we have different opinions about things but he is the manager. I see things from my perspective and he (Jol) sees them from his.”
Davids, nicknamed the ‘Pitbull’ and a firm favourite with the Spurs fans, has been linked with a move away from the club if they fail to reach the Champions League this season.
He is still hoping to go to the World Cup finals in Germany as part of Marco van Basten’s Holland squad but insists his club future will remain with Spurs whatever the outcome of their European endeavours.
“At the end of the season I will think a lot of things,” said Davids.
“But I have another year with the club and we will see what happens. At the end of this season I will still be here because I have a contract for another year.”
His touch-tackling reputation often goes before him and as a result, he believes English referees are quick to punish him for a mistimed tackle while his counterparts get away without reprimand.
“I don’t complain if I get a tackle, I get up and go on,” says Davids. “But they have to let me tackle as well. It is a give-and-take situation.”
Davids knows he is nearing the end of his playing days but shrugs off the prospect of going into management because of the stress suffered by coaches in today’s game.
“When I see so many managers running and screaming down the line and getting older in six months so you can’t recognise them, then I don’t know,” said Davids.
“They are getting grey and old and it is a hard decision. But it is nice to pass on the experience and knowledge you have. I think Martin Jol had more hair when I first came. Can you imagine me going the same way?”
