“Where am I going now?” Photo from www.motherwellfc.co.uk
Why it
makes sense
For the
club
Filling the
void left by Chris Erskine was one piece of summer shopping that Thistle did
not get around to purchasing. John Baird was brought on board and he performed at times
for Dundee last season, but it doesn’t instil
much hope in spectators to be relying on an average player from the worst team
in the SPL. Higginbotham showed with his wonder strike against Hibs last
season that he does possess a wealth of talent and should provide the missing
link between the midfield and striker Kris Doolan. Comparisons with Erskine are
not quite accurate. They are different sort of players, although that doesn’t mean he can’t do a job in his predecessors position.
Higginbotham
is a number ten in the Italian football mould. He’s a creative central forward player that makes up for his goalscoring deficiency by bringing others into play. What’s more he is experienced at Scottish Premiership level.
Ok, those may have only been a handful of games on loan at Motherwell last
season but it is still a handful more than the starting line-up of Thistle
possessed before their opening game against Dundee United.
For the
player
The key
thing from Higginbotham’s point of view is the length of the contract: a two-year deal. Due
to various loan moves this will now be the eighth stop on the 24-year old’s
career. He needs to stay still for a while and play consistently if he is going
to reach the potential that encouraged Huddersfield
to spend a rumoured £150k on his services. Not only will he get that chance
with Thistle he’ll also get the chance to start straight away and not have to
look over his shoulder if his performances are flat to begin with.
The top flight is a good platform for footballers wishing to put themselves in the shop window, while it will also give him the chance of exacting revenge
on Motherwell for not making more of an effort to sign him in the summer. His
value at Fir Park diminished once James McFadden
walked through the door. However, he’s several years younger and less injury
prone than the former Scotland
internationalist, and he’ll want Motherwell to one day rue their transient
thinking.
Why it
doesn’t
For the
player
In the
summer the player made the point of giving an interview to the media in which
he stated his intentions to stay at Huddersfield
and fight for a place. Now they’ve played one league game and suddenly it’s
time to throw in the towel! Manager Mark Robins made a point of praising his
application in training. Higginbotham should have known it would take more than
just hard work during the pre-season. Patience would obviously be required if he was serious about working back to the first team level. Only after an impressive display in a competitive match would have led to more opportunities. If he didn’t want to spend more any more time sitting in the stands then he should have came to the conclusion sooner, then it would have been possible to negotiate a better deal
at a club that won’t just be content with staying in the top division.
For the
club
It has been
alluded to earlier: the player has featured in only ten games at the top flight
level. It had been presumed that the next footballer coming into the club would
be of the Isaac Osbourne variety, a player reliable in delivering performances
at this level. Higginbotham currently goes down with the rest of his new
teammates on the ‘unproven’ list.
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