With all the turmoil going on at Dean Court over recent months Darren Anderton would have been forgiven by many for simply walking away from the game.
Here is a man who has played in the Premiership and the World Cup and brushed shoulders with the finest in the game.
He has also gained infamy for the amount of his career he spent on the sidelines with injury.
The prospect of a 17-point deduction as he samples life in bruising world of the Football League’s basement division could hardly be called enticing.
However, Dazza has shown in his time on the South coast that he has a different kind of motivation to many modern players.
He may be on a pay as you play basis, but the sums will hardly be significant in terms of his career earnings and nothing in the contract states he must charge around as if he were still in the Three Lions of England.
As the Cherries kicked off there League Two campaign on Saturday, Anderton – now reinvented as a ball-playing central midfielder – was a class act, scoring the opening goal and, along with debutant goalkeeper Shwan Jalal, was the only Bournemouth player who deserved to be on the winning side as they drew 1-1 with Gillingham.
The intelligence and quality of Anderton’s passing is simply unmatched at this level and he will be an essential figure if we are to overcome our points deduction and remain in the division.
But it is his workrate and commitment in the tackle that really shone through as he repeatedly put his ageing frame on the line to carry out the less-celebrated side of the game.
Every time he has pulled on a Cherries shirt Dazza has been a model professional in his approach to the game and only very rarely allows his frustration at less talented teammates to surface.
I would love to see more talented veterans strutting their stuff and entertaining loyal fans in the lower leagues.
At 36-years-young I’m hoping there’s plenty more of the same to come from Sicknote this season.
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