The Renaissance of Clint Hill Published on Thursday, 14 June 2012 11:39 Written by Ron Norris From an opening day red card that saw him sent to Coventry by Neil Warnock to solid top flight centre back and player of the year. This has been a remarkable season for Clint Hill. Nine months ago Hill was part of a Nottingham Forest side that were sinking fast, he played five times on loan and they lost four of those. It canât have been an enjoyable time for the affable defender who was left looking towards the next stage of his career after falling out of favour at Loftus Road. His move away from W12 came as a result of his opening day red card against Bolton, Rangers were done four nil and Clint, in a moment of rashness, put the tin hat on the day with a needless last minute sending off. In a moment of arguably equal rashness Neil Warnock agreed to let him go out on loan to Forest. âIf Iâm honest with you I thought that was me done,â Hill told us in our recent interview. âI thought Iâd have to move on and kick start somewhere else.â The deal was for three months but only lasted four weeks, injuries forced Warnock to recall Hill and he found himself back at QPR and in the side to face Chelsea at Loftus Road just three days after a second tier fixture against Middlesbrough. It proved to be a fantastic result for The Râs with a memorable 1-0 over our rivals but Warnock had made it clear Hill was back for cover and thatâs what he remained. He had the odd start when required and a handful of appearances off the bench, including one at his beloved Liverpool but he was still very much just part of the numbers. The close of 2010 proved to be a testing time for Rangers and Neil Warnock whose lack of results led to his departure early in 2012. Mark Hughes came in to replace him in January and again perhaps Hill could be forgiven for thinking his time might be up under a new boss as his contract ticked down to expiry this summer. Instead though, and almost immediately, he became a much more important member of the side. We had struggled all through the first half of the campaign with some awful defending and an unsettled back four. The likes of Hall and Gabbidon never cut it and Anton Ferdinand although a good signing had looked in need of a solid partner to play alongside him. Hughes found the answer to that problem in Hill Under Warnock Hill made six starts following his return from Forest, three at left back and three in the centre with two different partners. He never made more than two consecutive appearances in the centre of defence as his under pressure boss struggled to decide on his back four and tinkered with his personnel to find the right formula in search of results. However when Hughes took over Hill played 15 times in his 20 in charge, 11 of those at centre back, 10 of those alongside Anton Ferdinand and 8 of those 10 (the last eight games of the season) with the same two full backs. Hill deserves immense credit for his strength in character for bouncing back and proving his worth and for anchoring down a centre back spot in the top flight at the age of 33 however letâs not underestimate his managerâs contribution here too. Hughes showed faith in his man and provided him with the kind of consistent selection defenders need to get an understanding and a confidence in each other and that has paid dividends as the season ticked towards its close. Clint Hill might be a really determined and spirited character but as Burnley stuck a fifth past his Forest side in September last year somehow I doubt that even he would have said to himself âby next May Iâm going to back in the Premier League with QPR and winning the player of the season awardâ. Thatâs exactly what happened though and now Clint has been rewarded with another year on his contract and the prospect of twelve more months of top flight football as he approaches his thirty fourth year. Chances are the 2012/13 campaign might be his last at Loftus Road and with new signings expected perhaps this time he really will be used more sparingly. However if this season has proved anything about Clint Hill itâs that you can never count him out.
North, could we get a thread about Clint Hill bumped before Oddball starts telling us all we wrote him off pre-season?
good report swords & agree he was immense in our run in & deserves player of the year, has he signed that year contract yet? don't think i've seen in published yet or i might be wrong/
http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/59653-Rate-The-Player-3-Clint-Hill ================================================= There you go, but you should delete that article and leave the link.
Managed to meet Hill at the sponsors evening and he is a top bloke. A really down to earth guy and it does make you aware that there are proper pro footballers out there who really do love the game and appreciate the fans. Totally deserved his POTY award.
