The footballing career of Craig Gardner has taken a familiar avenue which he has experienced previously as he has agreed to rejoin his boyhood club Birmingham City from West Bromwich Albion. The player managed an astonishing 85 caps in his 2 and-a-half years as Albion couldn’t find anyone else to play central midfield as opposing players said they would rather play for Sainsbury’s or Asda any day of the week rather than Tesco. Strikers were particularly put off as they said the service was poor and the contracts were only temporary over the festive Christmas period.
Gardner’s career has seen him at only a handful of clubs, including a brief stint at Sunderland and also Aston Villa where he came through the youth system for several years. However, the player’s homesickness got the better of him eventually with him stating that he couldn’t cope with being so far away from Small Heath as where he lived in Smethwick was just too far away for him to travel. This is especially true as the hubcaps to his Range Rover detailed in a statement that they have missed him since they were nicked as he was leaving St Andrews after it was agreed that he was joining rivals Albion.
His departure from the club was expected with West Brom securing some decent summer signings such as Sandro and Matt Phillips. Besides, the owners at The Hawthorns said they didn’t want miscommunication between the players with home grown players being preferred. Therefore, this pushed Gardner towards the exit door as they considered the Black Country accent much more difficult to understand than Claudio Yacob’s Argentinian.
Obviously as Gardner does not suit the kick-and-rush style of football which Albion manager Tony Pulis has brought into the club, he has opted to ply his trade elsewhere. The Welshman undoubtedly thinks that the blueprint of that of the Welsh rugby national team is a worker and will help to bring down the shots of even players such as Chris Brunt and Darren Fletcher from row Z to row T.