Southampton and Wales legend Ron Davies is the latest guest on the EPL Talk Podcast, the daily Premier League interview and analysis show.

To say that Davies is a legend to Southampton supporters is an understatement. In his first season with the Saints, Davies scored an incredible 43 goals. Heralded as “the best centre forward in Europe” by Matt Busby and the “best header of the ball” by teammate Mick Channon, Davies was a one-of-a-kind goalscorer whose feats included scoring four goals against Manchester United at Old Trafford, four goals against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and four goals against Aston Villa. Between 1966-69, he scored 90 times in 123 league games. It’s no wonder that football commentator Martin Tyler names Davies as his hero.

In addition to playing for Southampton, Davies also played for Manchester United, Norwich City, Luton Town, Chester City, LA Aztecs, Seattle Sounders and other teams, as well as for his country, Wales.

In this exclusive interview, Davies discusses:

• his memories of that day in 1969 when he scored four against Man United at Old Trafford,
• what it was like to play alongside George Best in the NASL and what Harry Redknapp was like at Seattle Sounders,
• the story of how he got discovered as a young footballing talent,
• what it was like playing for Wales against England and Brazil, and playing alongside John Toshack, Wyn Davies and other Welsh legends, and
• the secret to his success of how he was able to jump so much higher than his opponents during football matches.

This is a must-listen interview with a legend of football who is definitely a gentle giant of this beautiful game.

Don’t forget that the EPL Talk Podcast is the only Premier League interview and analysis podcast available for free. In the past few weeks, we’ve interviewed legends of the game such as Steve McManaman, Efan Ekoku, Martin Chivers and Robbie Earle as well as experts such as Declan Hill, Simon Kuper, Misha Sher, Matt Dickinson and many others. Why pay $40 a year to rival podcasts when you can subscribe to the EPL Talk Podcast for FREE featuring interviews with the biggest names in football?

Plus stayed tuned for upcoming interviews coming this week including John Harkes (of Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County fame) and more. Plus you can hear interviews on our sister podcast MLS Talk with Thomas Dooley, Jaime Moreno, Jimmy Conrad, Sacha Kljestan and Stuart Holden.

I wonder why Sir Alex Ferguson waited until tonight to say what he said, when he had every opportunity to do so last week. Then again, he always has had a knack for waiting until the points were in the bag before opening his mouth (see Kevin Keegan and Rafa Benitez).

Fergie waited to damn Chelsea out of the title race until after Manchester United saw Fulham show up in kit only. Rooney came off the bench to finish off the 3-0 victory, then Sir Alex finished off Chelsea’s title chances in his post match presser.

Now I think it’s a little bold for Fergie to claim that Chelsea sacking Scolari plays right into Manchester United’s hands. However he’s right. Chelsea sacking Scolari showed the instability at the club, and the fact that Manchester United are now ten points clear of fourth speaks volumes.

This title is truly a two horse race. That could end quickly should Manchester United beat Liverpool on March 14. It’s weird that Sir Alex mentioned 1997-98 when Manchester United blew a twelve point lead to Arsenal, but it’s always good to remember the past. It helps prevent you from slipping up.

Other Stories
I’ll start with more Manchester United news. The shut out streak continues for one Edwin Van der Sar. 1,302 minutes…that’s just simply sick.

We can also thank the Daily Mail for this one. They are already starting the countdown to a Manchester United quadruple, 100 days away. While I don’t think anyone is beating Barcelona in the Champions League, and Inter is going to give Manchester United everything they can handle in the round of sixteen, there is nothing wrong with this kinda talk. If gambling is your thing, 16-1 are the best odds you can get on the Quad.

How often will we hear of talk that Mark Hughes is not getting along with Elano and Robinho before the season is over? I don’t think this is the last.

I guess Petrov’s comments have stirred up Aston Villa a bit. Now Gabriel Agbonlahor thinks it would signal Villa’s intent if Gareth Barry put pin to paper on a new contract.

Looks like we will be seeing Mark Clattenburg back as a referee after all. He won his appeal and will start again in April, after 8 months out overall. How fast after he makes his first bad call will it be before fans start chanting about being paid off?

March looks to be the time Chelsea can expect Michael Essien back.

Harry Redknapp now appears set to be interviewed by Revenue and Customs over the whole bung scandal.

Liverpool have put in a request to not have a Champions League tie on April 15, the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, should they make it to the quarterfinals. Hopefully UEFA will approve.

Fabio Capello will be at the opening of Sir Bobby Robson’s Cancer Trial Research Centre with a check for 75,000 pounds. Here hoping Sir Bobby can kick cancer for the fifth time.

And finally, Luton Town will have at least one good day in their season of hell…a trip to Wembley. They will face Scunthorpe United in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final.

A big day of FA Cup action and the team I’ve been following for this round, League Two strugglers Bury, pulled off a big upset by knocking out Championship side Norwich City with a 2-1 win in their 3rd round replay at Gigg Lane. The win sets up a fourth round match away at Southampton (another Championship club) for The Shakers.

Bury does have some interesting history in the FA Cup tournament. They last won the FA Cup back in 1903 (also won it in 1900) and were actually thrown out of the FA Cup in 2006 for fielding an ineligible player (Stephen Turnbull — who was a loan signing from Hartlepool) in their 3-1 second-round replay win over Chester City. The win over Norwich will help erase the memories of that embarrasment and they’ll be looking to score another upset in the next round.

Luton’s hopes of an upset were crushed by a Steven Gerrard hat-trick as Liverpool cruised to a 5-0 win. Luton are beset by financial problems and are currently in administration. They have sold two of their star players and let three others leave since they held Liverpool to a draw on January 6th. Midfielder David Edwards was sold to Wolves for £675,000 and defender Chris Coyne went to Colchester for £350,000. There may be some hope on the horizon as Luton have agreed on a takeover deal with a consortium led by English television personality Nick Owen but the deal has yet to be ratified by the Football League.

One other note from the game was that both sides formed a guard of honour before kick-off as Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher celebrated his 500th appearance for the club.

Tottenham held off Reading after an early Robbie Keane goal to setup a 4th round fixture against Manchester United.

All the scores from Tuesday’s replays:

Bury 2-1 Norwich
Millwall 2-1 Walsall
Liverpool 5-0 Luton
Reading 0-1 Tottenham
West Brom 2-2 Charlton (WBA win 4-3 on penalties)

After the topsy-turvy results from the weekend, there are 12 replays to be had before we know the exact picture of the next round.

The club I have been following, League Two stugglers Bury, is involved in one such replay against Norwich City, currently 20th in the Championship. Should Bury win, a match against Southampton is their reward.

The potential big winners of the draw are non-league Havant & Waterlooville, who have been given the chance of a dream trip to Anfield. The Blue Square South side, the lowest ranked team left in the tournament, need to beat League One leaders Swansea in their third-round replay, while Liverpool has to defeat Luton.

Tottenham, who will face Manchester United if they can beat Reading in their replay, have had their Premier League clash against Chelsea moved up two days to accommodate their FA Cup replay against Reading. Spurs’ game at Stamford Bridge was due to be live on TV on Monday January 14th, but it will now be played on Saturday as the replay at Reading is scheduled for Tuesday.

The full draw for the FA Cup fourth round is:

Arsenal v Stoke City/Newcastle
Coventry v Walsall/Millwall
Oldham v Huddersfield Town
Swindon/Barnet v Fulham/Bristol Rovers
Wigan v Chelsea
Luton/Liverpool v Swansea/Havant & Waterlooville
Southend v Barnsley
Southampton v Norwich/Bury
Manchester United v Tottenham/Reading
Portsmouth v Plymouth
Derby/Sheffield Wednesday v Preston
Watford v Wolves
Peterborough v Charlton/West Bromwich
Sheff Utd v West Ham/Man City
Mansfield v Middlesbrough
Tranmere/Hereford v Cardiff

The FA Cup third-round replay fixtures are:

Tuesday January 15th
West Brom v Charlton
Bury v Norwich
Barnet v Swindon
Reading v Tottenham
Millwall v Walsall
Bristol Rovers v Fulham
Sheffield Wednesday v Derby
Liverpool v Luton

Wednesday January 16th
Man City v West Ham
Havant & Waterlooville v Swansea
Newcastle v Stoke
Hereford v Tranmere