Fri 03 May 2019, 13:46
Tottenham HotspurEveryone knows the Darren Anderton story at Spurs.
Signed from Portsmouth in 1992, the midfielder went on to make 299 appearances for us in the Premier League in a 12-year career at the Lane - a figure yet to be toppled.
He won the League Cup in 1999 and played 357 times for us in all competitions before departing for Birmingham City in 2004.
Capped 30 times by England, Darren was a key member of Terry Venables’ team that took apart Holland on the way to the semi-finals of Euro 1996 - he set up Paul Gascoigne's iconic goal against Scotland - and then scored against Colombia in the 1998 World Cup Finals in France.
That's Darren's Spurs (and England) story.
What is less known perhaps is that Darren ended his 18-year career at Bournemouth.
Signed in 2006, he was there in 2008/09 for Bournemouth's 'great escape' when The Cherries recovered from a 17-point deduction to survive in League Two before beginning a journey that reached the promised land of the Premier League. They won the Championship in 2014/15 and now in their fourth season in the top flight, are seen as a blueprint for clubs promoted into the Premier League.
First of all Darren, tell us about your move to Bournemouth...
Darren: “I’d been up at Wolves with Glenn (Hoddle) and really enjoyed it but my dad was ill at the time and I wanted to come back down to the south (he was born in Southampton). I had friends in the area, a few knew the Chairman and it all came about via a chance meeting. The club said to me ‘let’s try to make it happen’. It was a club with the reputation of trying to play the right way and that’s what I was all about. Sean O’Driscoll was manager when I signed, but he left that day! Kevin Bond then came in and it went from there. I had two-and-a-half great years down there.”
You clearly enjoyed your time there...
Darren: “It was a great set of lads, good young players and it was nice to be appreciated. They could see I wasn’t just there for a ‘jolly-up’ as such, I did things right. The fans were always good to me as well. To see where they are now, it’s fantastic.”
You were there in some difficult days in League Two. What was that like?
Darren: “At that time (2008/09) the club was more or less bottom of the Football League after a points deduction. Bondy left, Jimmy Quinn came in and we started okay, but it started going pear-shaped. As I said, I was there to enjoy my football and always promised myself if I wasn’t doing that, I’d retire and that’s what happened. The new owners accepted that. They soon sacked Jimmy Quinn, Eddie Howe came in and the rest is history. It’s incredible what has happened since then, unbelievable.”
Bournemouth are now seen as a shining light for clubs promoted to the Premier League, what have you made of their progress?
Darren: "They came up, played their football, struggled a little in the first season but then they beat Manchester United at home, Chelsea away and the belief they got from those results gave them the feeling they belonged in the Premier League and off they went. You have to say they’ve stayed up very comfortably in every season since and the manner in which they play, people love to watch them. They are always entertaining, it’s a little compact stadium and never easy for teams to go there and they have been a breath of fresh air for the Premier League. They’ve stuck to their principles. Eddie Howe has always done it that way, always pleasing on the eye, lots of pace, power and a lot of quality. They are a team that does things the right way. They don’t carry players and everyone is into the team ethic."
We've spoken about Bournemouth - what about Spurs?
Darren: "The Club is right where it needs to be - challenging. That’s what we're doing. I heard the manager's comments this week and it was so well put, it’s not about winning one trophy, it’s about challenging for them all, every season. Look, Leicester did amazingly when they won the title in 2015/16 but we have stayed up there, continued to be consistently one of the top teams. Only City have done better than us over that period, how amazing is that? Of course, we all want to see a trophy, we all want to play in finals and what we’re doing at the moment is giving ourselves a chance to make that happen. I don’t believe it’s a case of if it happens, I believe it’s when it happens - and that will be pretty soon. And being in the semi-finals of the Champions League is incredible. That just shows the character of the squad, dealing with lots of injuries yet still up there, still challenging."
