da bwin： In a fantastic 17 year career as a professional footballer, defender Danny Higginbotham recently called it quits and decided to hang up his boots for good. Instead of the usual route of going into coaching, the former Derby County man when into Media as a football pundit for BT Sport.
da brwin： The 35-year-old says that he felt out of love with the game, which is one of the reasons why he didn’t want to be involved in a coaching role at a club. Higginbotham also said that he is enjoying the quick transition from putting his boots on every weekend, to putting his suit and tie on to give his thoughts and opinions as a pundit.
Higginbotham exclusively told FootballFanCast: “It was a transitional period for me. I went to part-time football because I’d had enough of playing full time. The media thing started, getting little bits here and there, and I was really enjoying it. It was probably the best thing for me when I finished playing football, because I had enough of playing it. I got to a point where the media side of things was where I was enjoying it more. Don’t get me wrong, when football was at its peak, nothing could compare, but where it had got to, the media was far more enjoyable for me than actually playing.”
“Coaching and doing my coaching badges didn’t really appeal to me”, added Higginbotham. “Unless you’re at a top club, I think it’s very difficult not have your hands tied behind your back. One of the things with me was coaching and management was constant. I wanted to step back a little bit and spend more time with the family aswell.”
The Manchester born defender also served Premier League side Stoke City with distinction, playing a total of 109 appearances for the Potteries over a two year spell, scoring 11 goals in the process. Higginbotham openly said he has no idea why Ryan Shawcross is not in the England set up, saying he is one of the best five centre half’s in the Premier League.
“I think if you look over the last year or two, it will be difficult to name four or five more consistent centre back’s than him. A lot has been said, including myself saying that he seems to be the team that you play for. If you look at some of the players ability and form players have been showing and still not getting in the squad, and it applies for Ryan.”
Grappling and holding to an opponent in the penalty area has been widespread in the Premier League thus far, with Shawcross being a prime suspect. Higginbotham added that this may be one of the reasons why Hodgson is continually ignoring Shawcross.
“When it was brought up, particularly in the Swansea game where he gave away a penalty, Mark Hughes did something very clever and took Shawcross off the marking responsibility. This enabled Shawcross to attack the ball, which suited him better. Whenever he is in the penalty area, all eyes are on him about what he’s going to do. If that’s the reason why he’s not getting picked for England then that’s wrong. It can be something that can be easily sorted out which Hughes has done a Stoke.”
As well as playing for the Britannia Stadium outfit, Higginbotham once plied his trade at current high flyers Southampton and strugglers Sunderland. The recently retired player is one of many to be surprised at how well the Saints are doing, while he also thinks the Black Cats have a long season ahead.
“Southampton have surprised me. I don’t mind holding my hands up to that. After what happened during the summer, I thought it was a disaster waiting to happen, and I been proved completely wrong, which I’m more than happy about. I think what happens sometimes is when your star players move on; it enables other players within the squad to step up to the plate, and show what they’re capable of, and that’s what’s happened. I think Ronald Koeman’s come in, untested in the Premier League, and he’s been fantastic. He’s scouting network and player recruitment has been outstanding.”
“Sunderland on the other hand just can’t seem to get results together. There conceding too many goals and not scoring enough. It’s going to be difficult for them because one thing they don’t want to find themselves in is the positon they were in last season because they won’t be able to do that again.”
Higginbotham also had the honour of representing Gibraltar at the age of 34 years old, playing three times for the country before calling it a day. With lesser nations in the qualifying group stages being beaten on a regular basis, Higginbotham described talk of a different tournament being played, which gives nations lower down the rankings more of a chance of winning as ‘arrogant.’
“The teams that get through to the major tournaments like the European Championships and the World Cup are there because they deserve it. When people say things about a separate FA Cup style tournament for the lesser nations is like saying why should a team from non-league play a Premier League team? I just think it’s an arrogant thing when people say things like that. Why shouldn’t the smaller nations have the opportunity to play against the lesser nations and have a great experience? It’s something that they can tell their kids and grandchildren about. Look at Gibraltar, went to Germany, got beat 4-0, and gave a very good account of themselves.”
With a long and flourishing footballing career under his belt, its safe to say that many people will be looking forward to seeing more of Danny Higginbotham’s honest views and opinions in the media spotlight.
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