Billy Davies v Eddie Howe - head to head

I thought it might be of interest to see how Eddie Howe matches up to Billy Davies' record in the Championship, although Saturday will be the first time they have managed a team against each other. It is interesting that both managers have returned to their respective club having managed them before and they have both had a good run at being Championship managers.

Billy Davies is a little older at 49, compared to Eddie (35), and has managed at Preston North End and Derby County in the Championship as well as at Forest. You can soon see why Forest fans label him 'King Billy' as soon as you look at his managerial stats with Forest. In his first period at the club between 2008-11 he had a win ration of 42 per cent, with 53 wins from 126 games. Moreover, in 2009-10 he helped the team to an 18 game unbeaten run in the Championship.

From the start of his second period at Forest, in February 2013, he has won 15 of the 30 games he has been in charge of and only lost six. This season they have only lost once, away to Wigan. You can see more of Billy Davies' profile on Wikipedia.

Eddie Howe's Burnley record (Jan 2011- Oct 12) does not stand up quite so well, but it isn't that bad for a Championship manager with a 39 per cent win ratio and 34 wins from 87 games. During this season Eddie is up to a win ratio of 45 per cent from his 11 games in the Championship.

Both managers are very successful and while Billy Davies might have the edge on knowing his current team slightly longer, Eddie Howe has recorded a 5:1 win against Nottingham Forest in September 2011 (when Steve McClaren was manager of Forest) and a 0:2 win in January 2012 at the City ground (when Steve Coterill was the Forest manager).

So Eddie's record against Forest is one he would like to keep up, although it will be the first time I can see that Eddie will have taken on Billy Davies at Forest. Eddie had joined Bournemouth again in October 2012 before Burnley (under Sean Dyche) lost 2:0 to Forest last December.