Davenport looks to window of opportunity

Feb 13 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

AFTER enduring another “nightmare” transfer window seeing his name linked with a host of interested clubs, Calum Davenport is aiming to play his way to a permanent deal at Sunderland.

Davenport signed for his seventh club in eight years when he joined the Black Cats on loan last month, and the 26-year-old freely admits he needs more stability to fulfil the early promise that led to international recognition at under-21 level.

Partly a victim of the savage cost-cutting at Upton Park, Davenport says he has no intention of returning to east London in the summer to sit on the bench.

Instead he is looking to grasp his opportunity to impress Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia – and put an end to the seemingly annual round of January transfer speculation linking him with another move.

The Davenport transfer saga seemed to rumble on interminably during January, with Sunderland initially registering an interest after a permanent transfer to Bolton fell through.

Inquiries were made by Wolves and Birmingham City as the month wore on, but when West Ham relented on their refusal to let him depart on loan in the last few days of the transfer window, Sbragia renewed his interest.

That made it a difficult few months for a player who has endured a frustrating, injury-hit campaign so far.

“It was a relief to get something sorted in January.

“From West Ham’s point of view, I think they were only interested in doing something on a permanent basis, but Sunderland could only do something on loan, so that dragged it out a bit.

“The move suited me. I’m delighted to be here, to be honest. Every window it seems that my phone has been going off non-stop, so this window I just kept it off and said to my agent: talk to me when something happens and clubs agree something. Until that point I don’t want to know.

“For me that time of year is a nightmare. I just want to establish myself somewhere and feel at home somewhere. Instead of being ‘He’s going there’ or ‘He’s not staying’. I want my name not to appear in the transfer gossip columns next window!”

Davenport certainly appears to have little future at West Ham, where some desperate January cost-cutting bought the club time to secure financial stability.

Out of favour with Hammers’ boss Gianfranco Zola, and frequently ruled out of contention with niggling injuries, a fresh start was required to relaunch a career that has stuttered since his early days at Tottenham.

“I want a bit of stability in my career. I’m 26 and I’ve got a young family as well, so I want to settle,” he said.

“I haven’t just come up here for six months away from West Ham with a view to going back – I’m hopefully coming here to get in the team, perform well and convince the manager and fans that I can add something to the squad. Then, hopefully, something might happen in the summer.

“The foundations are here at Sunderland. They stayed up last year, so it’s a case of kicking on, which is something that West Ham have managed to do since getting back into the Premier League. They’re sitting in eighth now,” he said.

“I don’t think that happens overnight: it’s a progression.

“One of the things with West Ham is you couldn’t train properly because the pitches were always waterlogged. The facilities here are brilliant, it’s nice to be able to train, whatever the weather.”

Meanwhile, Sunderland’s trio of Soca Warriors were all in action as Trinidad & Tobago drew their World Cup qualifier with El Salvador 2-2 early yesterday UK time.

Carlos Edwards and Dwight Yorke were both on target, although the latter also missed a penalty and was dismissed in the closing minutes of the game as Trinidad & Tobago conceded twice in the last eight minutes to drop two vital points.