A Blast From The Recent Past

[Lenin the Parakeet]

Readie

[GazzyB]

Good read. I don't think a player has split our fans more in recent years than Higdon early on. He was scoring goals for fun at the end of last year, his goals against Celtic, Hibs & Dundee Utd in particular were all top class.

[pingu]

Anyone mind copying and pasting?

 

I think The Herald are in the dark ages with their 'pay for our online content' approach.

 

 

 

[rambunctious]

I got it no bother, but here you go

 

 

Going Dutch has felt like the right move for Higdon

Staff writer

 

Friday 14 February 2014

IT MIGHT have been a move that came out of the blue, but for Michael Higdon it has turned out to be the right one.

 

Robbin Ruiter of FC Utrecht saves a penalty from Michael Higdon, who thinks he should have scored more than his nine goals so far. Picture: Getty Images

 

The former Falkirk, St Mirren and Motherwell striker was the leading scorer in Scotland's top flight and PFA Player of the Year during the 2012-13 season while at Fir Park.

While it was not entirely unexpected that the Englishman chose to leave Lanarkshire when his contract expired, he did surprise many when he chose to sign for NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands rather than return to his homeland.

 

"I had been in Scotland for six seasons and had the opportunity to do something different," said Higdon, who had also attracted interest from further afield, in China, Russia and Turkey. "The chance to play abroad was a good option for me. I hadn't done it before and I wanted to try it."

 

Joining NEC felt like the right fit, though, for personal as well as footballing reasons. The 30-year-old said: "The Eredivisie is a good league and people speak English in Holland as well. If I had gone to China, it would have been a bit difficult. Everyone made me feel welcome here at NEC, so that side of it was no problem."

 

Higdon signed a two-year contract and feels he has settled into his new life well. "Obviously, you miss your friends and your family," he said. "What else do I miss? I miss going to watch Liverpool play."

 

Nijmegen is not too far from Merseyside, however. "During international breaks I usually go home," Higdon said. "My family are coming over to stay with me this week, so it's not too bad."

 

Higdon jokes that one benefit of playing in the Netherlands is that the Dutch certainly know how to celebrate a victory - "when you win, the parties after the games are quite good" - but quickly dispels any notion that that was a significant factor in his decision.

 

He spends most of his time at NEC's training pitch and their ground, the Goffertstadion. "It's a nice country, but unfortunately I haven't seen much of it," admitted Higdon, who has been playing well for his new club.

 

This is despite the fact that the manager who signed him, Alex Pastoor, was sacked soon afterwards - replaced by former NEC player Anton Janssen - and even though the largely young team are currently second bottom of the Eredivisie.

 

Higdon won a berth in the starting XI soon after his arrival and has scored nine times in 24 appearances in the league and Dutch Cup, but feels there is room for improvement.

 

"Possibly, I should have had 14, maybe 15, goals. It could have been a lot better," he says of the season so far. "I think in some games I've scored and it's been a success, but in other games I've not played so well."

 

That it should take him time to adjust is unsurprising, given that Dutch teams play in a different style to those in Scotland, and indeed, England.

 

"A lot more football gets played here; the ball stays on the ground," Higdon said. "The game is a bit more direct in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. In Holland, it is a lot more possession-based. I think that's a big difference."

 

Asked if the Dutch way of playing suits him, Higdon says he prefers to let his feet do the talking. "I think that at the end of the season, when you look at the stats to see how many goals you scored, you can answer that question," he says. "But that's one of the reasons I came to Holland, to adjust to the football here and see a different aspect of the game."

 

NEC's fans quickly fell in love with their new striker. British players are rare in the Eredivisie, and Higdon has become something of a cult hero. "Supporters want their No.9 to score goals and work hard for the team. I think I have done that in certain games," he said.

 

"If the fans like me, that's brilliant. They have been great to me. They sing my name in the stadium, that's very nice. Hopefully I can reward them with a few more goals."

 

As to where the game will lead him next, Higdon is keeping an open mind. "You just don't know in football," he said, refusing to rule out a return to Scotland or possibly England. "At the moment I'm happy in Holland, and that's what I'm going to continue to focus on. But this time last year I didn't expect to be in Holland. You just don't know."

 

[Judge Jules]

Good to see the big man doing well and enjoying his time out there. How many times do you see British players go abroad and it doesn't work out for them and if i'm honest i thought Higdon would have been the same but he's proved me wrong. Good stuff.

[rambunctious]

Good to see the big man doing well and enjoying his time out there. How many times do you see British players go abroad and it doesn't work out for them and if i'm honest i thought Higdon would have been the same but he's proved me wrong. Good stuff.

 

In fairness, I think with Higdon's style of play and physicality he'd do decent playing for anybody, anywhere, without ever being absolutely spectacular.

[Busta Nut]

He was absolutely spectacular with us.

 

 

 

 

Try deny it, you will look like a fool

 

 

 

[weeyin]

Good read. I don't think a player has split our fans more in recent years than Higdon early on.

 

Aye, he split our fans into "people who know at least the basics of the game" and "clueless".

[numpty]

I think The Herald are in the dark ages with their 'pay for our online content' approach.

I don't even understand how their model works -- I could read it fine and I haven't paid for anything, but other times I can't.

[weeyin]

[/size]

I don't even understand how their model works -- I could read it fine and I haven't paid for anything, but other times I can't.

 

You get a few free articles a month if you don't have an account. More if you sign up for a free account, and unlimited if sign up for a paid account.

 

Of course, if you log in with different browsers, different PCs, and from different locations their tracking goes a bit mental, but that's their basic model. Clearing cookies will reset your article count.

[rambunctious]

He was absolutely spectacular with us.

 

 

 

 

Try deny it, you will look like a fool

 

 

 

 

He did absolutely spectacularly for us, I agree. He's one of my favourite players from the last decade, I thought he was brilliant.

 

What I meant, however, was he's not actually a particularly spectacular player, talent-wise. We've had a lot more talented players over the last few years than him, but probably none have been near as effective. I think he'd be effective in pretty much any league, without being half as talented as some of the other players there.

 

The big man's now splitting the fans over just how spectacular he was

[weeyin]

I think that's doing him a disservice. He may not have been the most mobile player, but he was more skillful than many gave him credit for. Could finish with either foot, and to use that well worn cliche, great touch for a big man.

[rambunctious]

I think that's doing him a disservice. He may not have been the most mobile player, but he was more skillful than many gave him credit for. Could finish with either foot, and to use that well worn cliche, great touch for a big man.

 

I've actually been trying to compliment him and 'big him up' so to speak. It's came across as a sort of back handed compliment I must admit

 

Higdon = good

 

Should hopefully settle the matter!

[Judge Jules]

I can remember seeing him play for Falkirk and if you'd offered me him then i'd have said no. But he was younger obviously and when he moved to St Mirren you seen him progress and when he came to us you defiantly seen him progress ! I think we were lucky enough to have him at his peak, the goals he scored in his last season were brilliant, all types of goals to, inside and outside the box i mean that goal against United was unreal !

[milo]

Loved big Higdon. What a player he was for us. Would love to see him come back to us in a couple of years.

 

Really wish he'd scored that penalty v Aberdeen in the cup that time though....

[Spiderpig]

Big man was a legend for us last term..wish we still had him up front

[Frazzie]

He was one of a few from last seasons team in the "Pure dead brilliant" category.

[Welldaft Mk1]

I miss big Higgy - he was gallus.

 

Apart from that beating goalscoring records deserves such adulation.

 

That said Sutton has done no too bad and happy with his performances this season.

[rambunctious]

Him spending the night in the cells after the player of the year award ceremony was something else. I actually laughed out loud when I saw the news! Outstanding!

[Ya Bezzer!]

Pretty sure I saw his first ever game in Scotland.

 

Falkirk v Gretna at Fir Park, scored a couple of goals too.

[DEWELL]

BIG JOHN SUTTON MOTHERWELL'S NO 9. Thanks to Higgy for his fabulous season he had for us and good luck to him in Holland.

[Mio Krivokapic]

Higdon scores for Nijmegen, into double figures now, in all all competitions

[chummy]

Top man, hope it all works out for him

[Frazzie]

That was an important win for them. Really hope they stay up.