Hull City winger Robert Snodgrass was taught to appreciate everything he's achieved in life, says Philip Buckingham.
HAD things turned out differently Robert Snodgrass' career could have begun at Celtic or Barcelona. Instead it was Livingston and Stirling Albion.
Hull City's £7m summer signing has taken a winding road to the Premier League and now, after rapid progress with Leeds United and Norwich City, the Scotland international believes it has been the making of the man.
Snodgrass' journey began when he first shunned convention in the final year of school. Although boyhood favourites Celtic, based less than a mile from his home in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow, offered him a prized apprenticeship, he opted to join Livingston on the promise of greater opportunities.
That brought a Scottish Premier League debut at 16 and then, within two years, Barcelona came calling.
As the star of a Scotland team that reached the final of European Youth Championships in 2006 he was offered a trial at the Nou Camp.
That golden chance eventually came to nothing and what followed was a downward spiral that hit a low on loan to part-time Stirling Albion.
A rise back to prominence has never faltered since and Snodgrass has learned to be appreciative of the hard yards.
"No one has given me this through luck. I'm here on hard work and that's the way I've always been," he said.
"I've been taught to appreciate everything I have in life and I believe I play like that
"When I was younger, my attitude was wrong. When I first got into the first team (at Livingston) I was only 16 or 17 so didn't really know what it took to play at the highest level. I probably wasn't mentally right at the time.
"I was a young kid who just wanted to play football. I didn't realise how important what I did during the week was. I was late for training due to not really having any transport – my family lived in the centre of Glasgow and I didn't have any transport like the other kids.
"It was up to me to sort it out but I didn't. The distractions away from the game nearly cost me because John Robertson came in as manager and he was a hard disciplinarian.
"He gave me a kick up the backside and shipped me out on loan. It changed my way of thinking and my attitude has totally changed."
Snodgrass has always been brave, however. He explained: "I turned down the chance to go to Celtic when I was young. That was solely based on my upbringing through my parents.
"It's not about money or other things, it's about where you're going to get your chance. I wanted a platform to show my abilities and all the other stuff follows that."
That decision almost won him a footballing jackpot at the age of 18. Although he was more used to playing in front of sparse crowds at Livingston, Barcelona were in touch.
"It all happened very suddenly," he said. "It started when I was playing in a tournament in Scotland that also featured a team from Spain called Real Valladolid.
"They were interested but then we played Spain and they thrashed us 5-0. That put paid to it.
"But then, a couple of months later, my agent was speaking to the Livingston chief executive and she confirmed there had been talks with the chief executive of Barcelona
"Until then, I thought it was all paper talk so I started to get excited about going over there for a few days.
"But then it fell through, and I still don't know why. They just didn't follow up their interest. But it was still good to know that a club like Barcelona were interested."
By 2007-08 Snodgrass' career was back on track. A successful season with Livingston had alerted Leeds in League One and a four-year stay saw him play a lead role in bringing the Elland Road club back into the Championship. A £3m move to Norwich and to the Premier League followed but that spell ended on a low note when relegated from the top flight in May.
Just as the Canaries were starting to look comfortable in the Premier League, they have begun a season back in the Championship.
Snodgrass saw first-hand the affects of relegation: "We had discussions last year at Norwich that there was cleaners and backroom staff in danger of losing their jobs.
"That's what we based it on but sadly we fell just short. There was people at Norwich who lost their jobs, people we were close to. That's the business reality of falling out of the Premier League.
"Hopefully we'll be looking at the other half of the table.
"That's why the manager here has made the signings he has, to keep things fresh and keep the boys on the toes."
• This article was first published in our 48-page supplement Hull City 2014-15, in shops now priced 80p.![HullCityCover]()
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• This article was first published in our 48-page supplement Hull City 2014-15, in shops now priced 80p.
Enter the Sporting Champions AwardsHave you entered our Sporting Champions Awards? Click here to nominate an individual, coach or volunteer who has made a difference to the local sporting scene.
