BRIAN GRAHAM is at the peak of his career, with the biggest club he's ever played for and perhaps days away from his best triumph by far.
And yet the Hibernian striker is at the same living in dreamland and the real world.
The 29-year-old has had a good career, scoring over 100 goals and winning the League Cup with Ross County
Graham is no superstar, and would never claim to be, which means he will have a mortgage and bills to pay when the football comes to end.
That's why he and Morton's Ross Forbes, they pair will face each other in what should a thriller at Cappielow today, have something in common other than their chosen profession.
"We were on a tiling course together and actually he wasn’t too bad," revealed Graham. "My brother in law has a tiling company so I just thought I’d go and have a look and perhaps think about that line of business when I’m done playing football.
"I did it on a day off through PFA Scotland I volunteered to go along every Wednesday in January, good to get it done.
"Football doesn’t last forever and it is not as if myself and the other guys in the dressing room have played in the Premier League in England and are all multi millionaires. That doesn’t happen in Scotland.
"You have to keep an eye open on the outside world because you are going to have to get a job sometime. Players in the past have left football with nothing.
"Things are getting better over the years and Michelle Evans at the union is doing a great job get newsletters every month so it’s all there for players and if you fancy doing it then go ahead and do."
It's all glamour.
Graham is a former Morton player and even with the focus being on the two teams' managers, for obvious reasons, he is expecting some polite verbals from the Greenock faithful.
He said: "I got a bit of stick last time I was down there so I suppose I will get it again. I got dog’s abuse but that’s just part and parcel of the game. It’s good banter.
"I always remember when I was starting playing football a very good mate said to me, 'when they start to sing you are a w***** you know you have done something right."
Graham and Hibs won't allow the furore from the last game to go into this one. At least that's the plan.
Graham said: "You just have to be professional. What happened happened, we can’t change that. We have to fully focus on the football side of it and keep cool heads.
"It’s that time of the season when boys are coming back from injury and everyone in the dressing room wants to be part of it, so a red card or yellow cards is daft."
Hibs are so, so close. Win today and that will be it.
Graham said: "This is the biggest club I have played for. It's fantastic to come out on a Saturday in front of 16,000 fans. "It's everything about the place, the facilities, you enjoy coming to work. I’m enjoying my career at the minute.
"It is great to be part of Hibs and a club as big as they are should be back in the Premiership but you have to go and earn it. You don’t just get it because you are Hibs and so, hopefully, we get over the line soon."
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