Former striker Kevin Davies on Chesterfield’s relegation fight

“It was one of my best moments in football. That run leading to that semi-final, just coming up to 20 years ago, was a special experience. We’ve seen it happen with Sutton and Lincoln that you can go on such runs and the FA Cup provides such special moments and we created one at the club at that time. Bolton were flying when we played them and we wanted to put on the best performance we could for the fans. I scored my first and only hat-trick and it pops up again when you see FA Cup highlights from over the years.

“It was hard to put the Middlesbrough game into words. We had a fantastic group of players and a brilliant manager in John Duncan. I played in the first team at the age of 16, very young, and playing in that cup run was something I’ll never forget. I was suspended for the quarter-finals and, funnily enough, the player that came in and replaced me scored to get us to the semi-final so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

It’s a trophy I have great fondness for and I remember going to Old Trafford, with fans in hysteria and shops dressed in our colours, so it was an amazing experience. It’s still sore because of the final outcome of the game, hanging on a refereeing decision, so we could have been in the final but fans still talk about that game until this day so it’s great to have given them something they’ll cherish forever.”

“It’s really tough at the moment. The team lost against Bury on the weekend which was another kick in the teeth and Gary Caldwell has not had the desired impact he probably would have liked. They’ve had games against teams around them like Gillingham and Oldham which haven’t gone their way and I think they just need one win.

The gap is widening constantly and fans are starting to lose faith in the team. Gary has a lot of work to do, they are lacking confidence and playing football in the bottom three is very difficult to do week in week out. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has been called back in to the squad, with lots of experience, and they’ve got Ian Evatt at the back with lots of experience. It’s not looking good for the club at the moment but I hope they can turn it around.”

“I went to the game where they won 1-0 against Coventry and there was a real buzz around the club but then they lost consecutively so the next few games are crucial to pick themselves up. Millwall are never an easy team to play and perhaps it may be a good time to play them following their exertions over the weekend but on the flip side they’ll be on a real high so it could go one of two ways. I can’t see where the wins are going to come from as Oxford and Walsall are also tough teams. It’s a difficult situation and there’s a lot of unrest about the ownership with the club for sale. It’s a brilliant club with  a lovely stadium, loyal fans, but a lot of work needs to go on on and off the pitch to keep them up.”

“Yes, I think so. He’s had success with Wigan, getting them out of League One, but struggled in the Championship on a smaller budget than most clubs. I think he was unfairly treated there but we know managers don’t get the fair treatment nowadays. Normally when you come in midway through a season it’s under difficult circumstances and it can have an impact with the players but I’m sure he’ll see it as a challenge that he’ll relish. I’ve spoken to him a few times and I think he’s the right man to get them out of this situation.”

“They’ll need Sylvan Ebanks-Blake to come in and strike up a partnership with Ched Evans. They’ve got good firepower there, with Championship quality players. Ian Evatt at the back is trying to lead the team on. They aren’t scoring enough goals at the moment so they’ll need those two strikers to keep them up. If they can get a win or two in their next few games then it’s possible, if not, I think they’ll go down.”

“I think the fans are pleased about what’s going on on the pitch but they’ll be a little concerned about what’s going on off it with the financial reports just published. It doesn’t make for great reading.

“There’s been a welcome relief on the pitch, with players showing a lot of fight and spirit. The team had a dip in January but they’re right back on it again and Phil Parkinson has set the team up not to lose. The club has made some good signings with the likes Adam Le Fondre to help soften the blow of losing Zach Clough. They’re showing the qualities that are needed to get out of this league and have enough firepower to push for promotion.

I think Sheffield United will go up but Scunthorpe are fluttering a little and I think they can be caught. If Bolton and Sheffield United, my boyhood club, could go up that would be great.”

“They’re unbeaten in the last four and coming in to form so they can face any of those teams and get a result. The Sheffield United game will be a massive, massive game, with the travelling Bolton fans in full voice – it will be some spectacle. Players such as Mark Davies and Darren Pratley have had long term injuries so they’ve had to replace those players. I think they’re in a good position to get some good results against those clubs.”

“Not particularly to be honest. I don’t think the fans will be too fussed who’s managing as long as they’re getting results. We’ve sat next to each other at a few games and he’s very humble, very softly spoken but knows exactly what he wants and he’s very much a no-nonsense type manager. The club are very impressed with what he’s doing and under the current circumstances he’s doing a very good job. The style of football is not always pretty but he’s challenging the players to win games in different ways with a Plan B and Plan C. He tries to keep the other team guessing and it seems to be working.”

“It’s not an ideal situation for the club. Two grown men going public against one another is not good for the players, fans and anyone surrounding the club. I know Dean very well and he’s worked very hard to help the club to get the deal over the line but having viewed the recent accounts, it doesn’t make pretty reading, especially with Dean taking out a heavy interest rate loan. This is not what’s best for the club for the short/medium term but he was desperate to get in and take the reigns. He lost an investor towards the end of the deal and brought Ken in to help out last minute and this dispute has been public for far too long, it’s not healthy at all.

“The public spat on social media is completely childish. This should be a matter dealt with in-house. Ken has done his best to try and increase the income through shares, sponsorships and other dealings but it seems the loan has meant they’ve hit a stumbling block. If there’s interest externally for someone to acquire the club, especially if they get promoted, then this will help alleviate the problems. It’s a very difficult period and it’s an ongoing process but at the moment they have poor finances and players on bigger contracts than the club can afford.”

“January was difficult but Adam Le Fondre is a player of good enough quality to help the club with their promotion push. They’ve got a fairly healthy squad and I can really see them pushing on now. It all depends on their game against Sheffield United, if they can get a result there and then get some results at home to Bristol Rovers and AFC Wimbledon then they’ve got a great chance to get promoted automatically. The fans are enjoying the ride and I think they can second spot ahead of Scunthorpe.”

“I think it would be a massive achievement if they were to get promoted. A club so rich in history and one I loved playing every minute for, it would mean the world to them. They’re up against it but they are some way off the play-off places so it’s looking too tall an order for them. They’ve improved the squad with the introduction of Aiden McGeady, who’s been brilliant so far this season, and Jordan Hugill, who’s working incredibly hard and scoring some great goals. You’ve got to give Simon Grayson massive credit for the way he’s worked on the budget he has. It’s a club that is run in the right way, with a good owner in Trevor Hemmings. He’s a very astute individual who knows how to run a football club and they operate with very little loss.

“It’s difficult to try and compete with the top six at the minute, especially with the budget they have available, but it can be done, so that will give them encouragement. It would be great to see them in the Premier League and if they continue to back Simon, then it will take one or two seasons and they can get back into the playoff positions.

“Unfortunately more often than not the higher spending teams will rise to the top but Burnley have done it and so have other teams so it’s not impossible. I don’t think Preston had the best of starts this season so they’ve been playing catch up for the majority of the season. I think they are where they deserve to be but I know Simon is incredibly ambitious and will want a promotion to the Premier League. I think if they stick with him they have a great chance of doing so.”

“Troy Deeney has been mentioned as someone who could come in following the season he’s had with Watford. Andy Carroll is always going to be in discussion because of the physical attributes he offers you. With [Wayne] Rooney not playing, [Jamie} Vardy out of form, [Daniel] Sturridge not playing, then someone like Troy Deeney will be sitting there questioning why he can’t fill in.”

“I’m a big fan of Gareth Southgate, he’s very ambitious and driven. He ticks all the boxes and has worked within the system for a long time. He’s worked with the U21s and has taken them to big tournaments so he’s done relatively well. The obvious knock is that he didn’t do well in his club managerial career but I think he’s well suited to a national team. He won’t give a hairdryer treatment but is prepared to make big calls when needed, as we saw when he dropped Rooney.

“I think he’ll gain the respect of his players and the atmosphere around the team will be very good. I’m disappointed that Sam [Allardyce] didn’t get more of a chance, through his own fault, as having worked with him personally, he was the right man initially to change the attitude in the dressing room and get the players fighting for each other. He would have delivered similar to what Wales did during the Euros, a collective spirit and fight.”

“Not really. I had some injuries at the wrong time at Southampton, when I was playing really well, which meant I didn’t get called up but then when I came to Bolton from Southampton, I was very consistent. If I’m being honest, I never scored enough goals to warrant a call up but I brought different skills. I was in a lot of standby squads and whilst you never want someone to get injured, those are the times you tend to get your opportunities.

“It came at the age of 33 but looking back I had a couple of seasons a lot earlier in my career where I reached double digits and felt I could’ve been rewarded for that. When I did get called up, it was an amazing week and one I will never forget – to be one of the best football players in the country at the time was a real honour. I would have liked to have got more caps and I remember ahead of a friendly they called to say they were looking at a few other players, Jay Bothroyd ended up getting in instead and I was really disappointed. I wanted to build on and prove my worth to the team but it wasn’t meant to be.”

“I’ve got nothing but utmost respect for what he’s done for me and for this country as a professional. I remember when he came on the scene and changed the way we act as professional footballers. In all honesty, when I was playing in my younger years, it was all very amateurish, there was no nutrition or supplements, no pre-match training or post-match recovery. It was a case of turning up for 90 minutes and then sinking a few beers in the pub afterwards.

“I, and a lot of other English players, have a lot to thank him for, having played until I was 38. He set the bar high and helped develop English football for the better. I think all good things come to an end and the consistency of Champions League football and top-four finishes is wearing on the fans now, they want to compete for titles and Arsene isn’t delivering on this. The club is in a fantastic place and they’ve got the right infrastructure but they need some fresh impetus.”

“I think the main downfall in the second half of his management at the club is the failure to replace big players, household names and leaders with the right personnel. Patrick Vieira was the ideal example. It was a massive mistake letting him leave, he was a natural-born leader and went on to win further silverware after he left Arsenal.

“I was at University a few weeks back and someone from Manchester City came in to talk and said the real reason they signed Patrick Vieira was because of his influence off the pitch. He only just got through the medical to join the club, so it wasn’t about what he did on the pitch. Tony Adams, Ian Wright, Thierry Henry – these were all big characters, tough characters and turned up for big games. With Vieira, City have a plan to groom him to eventually take over at the club as manager so you can see what kind of mentality these players had.

“You can see now they’re too soft, they lack those leaders who would stand over you and match you for intensity and physicality as well as being incredibly talented with a football. They’ve got too many nice players, no horribleness, bullies, players that when a game gets a bit scrappy will get stuck in. However, as a pundit, they are one of the worst teams to comment on because they can make you look stupid. They can quite easily get punished by Bayern Munich but then go on a six, seven-game winning streak. The main thing now is that Wenger picks the players up until the end of the season and then evaluates his situation then.

“I think his time has come at the club. The one thing I hope for is that it’s done in the right way, with as much respect as possible, because he changed that club forever. I think he’s still keen to manage so I think it’s a case of a fresh start for both club and manager. I don’t know if he’s taken his foot off the gas or not but sometimes change is needed. [Diego] Simeone is an interesting one to replace him if he decides to go but I think it’s far too big a task for Eddie Howe.”

“The old midfield dominator is a position which is slowly losing its way in the new form of the game, much like the old fashioned centre forward. I’d say [N’Golo] Kante is the one player that Arsenal could have done with and they should have gone all out to sign him. Every team in the world would like to have a player of his particular skill set. He completely disrupts the game, throwing off the opposition and allowing Chelsea’s attacking players to do their stuff.”

“I’m not too sure. Peter Crouch is still flying the flag high for us, as is Andy Carroll! I think English football is trying to change culturally, especially in the top flight. When you go lower down the leagues, obviously you will have these players like Matt Rhead at Lincoln City but foreign forwards are less physically imposing.

“Every team needs this type of player to hold up the ball and link up play so I don’t think it’s dying out as such but there’s certainly a shift to more mobile forwards. We’ll always continue to develop those kind of players but it’s great to have more flair players in the league. I learned a lot from Nicolas Anelka at Bolton, he was an amazing foreign striker and helped me hone my skills.”

“Some of Joey’s past tweets have come back to haunt him but I think he’s right, there needs to be retrospective action for players that intentionally try to con the referees. It’s very difficult to judge what is and isn’t simulation but with all the cameras at games and a good, knowledgeable panel of former players and officials, not 60-70-year-old people, you can decide if action is needed.

“I’m sure Joey is embarrassed about his actions. I would have preferred him to come out and said that he’s had a mare there but people do it all the time, it’s not on. I certainly played on the edge at times and caught people but I’ve never gone down to try and con the referee, it’s not how I was brought up to play. Some of these footballers should go and watch the Six Nations, where players are hitting each other properly and then they get up and shake hands with complete respect.”

“Of course. It would have been handy 20 years ago when we played Middlesbrough in the semi-final of the cup! We’d have probably been off to an FA Cup final with goal-line technology. It’s really important to players and clubs now because there’s a lot of money in the game and such decisions can have a real impact on relegation and promotion, which can have an effect on clubs for the next five to 10 years. If the technology is there, then we should be doing our utmost to help referees out. It has as big an impact on League Two clubs as it does on Premier League clubs, so why not implement it across the board.”

“I wouldn’t mind having a go at Manchester City. I’d like to test myself against John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi. I wasn’t always a physical player, only really at Bolton did I start to use my strength and physicality against defenders. I’d definitely want to have a pop at Otamendi, though, he seems quite rash at times so I wouldn’t mind facing him.”

“My dad played amateur league football as a deaf man and got chosen to play in the GB team at the Olympics, so there’s a link for me to help out. There’s been a campaign going on for months to try and raise the £125,000 needed to fund the GB men’s and women’s team to get to the next tournament so I wanted to help out.

“People are working very hard to raise the money and I got contacted by a local club to help out and I’m hosting a charity match to take on Team GB so it should be great fun. It will mean the world to those players to go, so I’m doing my little bit.”

“I probably could have played one more year but I feel I made the right decision to move on to other things and as well as the media gigs, I’ve enrolled on this course to learn more about what it takes to run a club. I’ve played football for 22 years and have other business interests but when I saw this opportunity I jumped at it after being recommended it by the PFA.

“I’ve just passed the first module, learning the ins and outs of an elite sporting organisation, so it’s been very insightful. Furthermore, they get great guest speakers to come and we’re going to clubs too to learn how they run.”