IT might not always be immediately apparent from his general demeanour, but Michael Higdon is happy.
He is happy with 16 goals this season, the best seasonal tally of his career. He is more than content about being able to validate the faith of Stuart McCall, the Motherwell manager who has started him in every league game this campaign. He is overjoyed about the prospect of playing in a Champions League qualifying tie in July. And he is relieved to have proved once and for all to the club's fans, some of whom were critical in early season about the grumpy, languid body language which the big Scouser occasionally gives off, that he is fully committed to the cause.
"I think that [the fans' reaction] is just down to my own body language at times," explained the 28-year-old. "It has happened to me everywhere I have been and it won't be the last time. Most targetmen get it but you just get on with it. It might come across that I am not interested but hopefully with my performances lately they are on my side."
Motherwell's supporters have never had less cause for complaint than they have this morning. Higdon is the kind of physical, technical striker opponents dislike facing and no sooner had he steered in the winner at Tynecastle on Tuesday than he was being inundated with texts and well-wishes from players he has brushed shoulders with on a career which began under Dario Gradi at Crewe Alexandra and has taken in stints at Falkirk and St Mirren.
The striker, a Liverpool fan who never went to see the Anfield club in Europe, and who left Falkirk shortly after helping them qualify for the Europa League, had every right to revel in the moment. Dundee United's defeat at Ibrox last night means Motherwell will enter next season's Champions League qualifying in the third round, the same stage as Celtic, and could find themselves pitted against one of the continent's big guns.
"It is excellent for myself as well as the group of players," Higdon said. "It is some achievement by this group of players. This is my best season for goals. I have played every game and I have not been sub, which I am quite proud of. There are a few very good players in the team so if I am in the category of being first name on the team sheet then that is great."
Higdon, who is under contract until 2013, would be happier still if he had a guarantee that all of those brothers in arms would be signed up for next season. The likes of Steve Jennings and Steven Hammell are out of contract this summer and the 28-year-old is desperate they all get to taste the spoils of their season's efforts.
"I could be on the transfer list on Monday but it sounds good and it will be good to test ourselves against other players," he said. "I would like to think the players out of contract who got us there will be rewarded with a new deal. I personally would like the team to stay together so we will just leave it up to the people who deal with that. I would say sign them up now."
Motherwell are the archetypal team of no stars, a whole who exceed the sum of their parts. None of their players made it on to the PFA Scotland shortlists for player or young player of the year and even McCall struggled to single out his star man this season. Higdon, however, feels goalkeeper Darren Randolph, with 16 clean sheets this season, deserves an mention.
"We have played virtually the same team every week, give or take a few, and we all understand our roles," he said. "It has worked out lovely. I would personally pick out Darren Randolph, who has been outstanding for us. He is the best keeper I have played with, his shot stopping is unbelievable so he would get my vote as our player of the year if I had to choose."
Higdon might prefer to wear a frown, but he and Motherwell have plenty to smile about this morning.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article