GIVEN a chance to ditch League One for the Championship, most players would be off.
Yet Preston’s Joe Garner knows from bitter experience that for all the riches on offer, the grass is rarely greener on the posh side of the fence.
Back in 2008, the then teenager became one of the hottest properties in League One when he bagged 14 goals in 35 games for Carlisle.
That prompted Nottingham Forest boss Colin Calderwood to splash out £1.2m, but the dream move went awry when the Scot was swiftly sacked in favour of Billy Davies.
Garner rarely featured and subsequent spells at Huddersfield and Watford failed to spark a return to form. But when Garner’s boyhood favourites Preston came calling in January 2013, everything changed.
Back in League One and back up front, the 26-year-old netted 24 goals in 39 games last season. Which is why this summer, despite firm offers from Brentford, Reading and Leeds, Garner pledged his future to the Lilywhites.
“I was aware of the bids,” said Garner, who this week signed a new two-year deal. “But the club knew I didn’t want to leave.
“It is easy to snatch at a move but it isn’t always the sensible thing to do. I’ve made that mistake before and it’s resulted in me moving clubs every other year.
“I’m happy here, I’m playing the best football of my career. What’s the point in upping sticks again?
“I went to school in Clitheroe which is about ten miles from Blackburn, Preston and Burnley, so we had fans of everyone.
“But it was always Preston for me. I used to go and watch all the games, strikers like Jon Macken and David Nugent. It’s an honour to follow in their footsteps.”
Politics
Key to Garner’s decision was the trust of manager Simon Grayson, who replaced Graham Westley a month after the striker’s arrival.
“At both my previous clubs the manager who signed me had left so when it happened again I was obviously worried,” added the former England U19 man. “But the gaffer has been great.
“A lot of the teams I played for in the Championship, my managers put me out wide. I played a lot of games for Forest at left midfield, then on the right at Watford. Nobody ever wanted to give me a chance as a striker.
“At Championship level, there’s often politics involved. If the chairman has brought big players in for massive money, he expects to see them on the pitch. But the gaffer has trusted me to lead the line for him.”
Not that those Championship travails were entirely wasted. “Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was my striking coach at Forest, as was Teddy Sheringham at Watford,” he adds.
“Then I had Gianfranco Zola as my manager at Watford. He was amazing to watch on the pitch, just a different level. I don’t think you could get a much better education than that.”
Completed, of course, by a diploma in the game’s darker arts courtesy of Preston’s eldest statesman.
“Yeah, I’ve got Kevin Davies here who has been great,” he says. “Especially at teaching me how to use my elbows!”
