What a difference a year makes. Last May, Danny Gabbidon
had just spent a season of strife helping Cardiff City to avoid
relegation from the Championship by a mere four points.
Now 12 months on, the Hammer of the Year returns to the Welsh
capital hoping to plunder an FA Cup winner's medal, against
Liverpool on Saturday.
"Yeah, it's been an unbelievable season," smiles
Gabbs, who, alongside fellow Bluebird James Collins, moved to Upton
Park last July for an undisclosed fee.
"I've always believed in my own ability, though, and I
knew that one day I could play in the Premiership. When I first
arrived at West Ham United, I hoped that I'd be a first-team
regular but I also realised that I'd have to perform from the
word go.
"Although I didn't think that we'd struggle as a team,
I did know that we'd have to play very well. Our confidence
just grew and grew following a good pre-season, though, and
we've just carried on from the summer.
"At the start, we were only thinking about surviving in the
Premiership but we ended up doing that quite comfortably with a few
games still left to go. We've kept working hard, have got
ourselves on this FA Cup run and have managed to qualify for
Europe, too.
"It's been fantastic, I've enjoyed every minute of my
time here and it really is a case of so far, so good."
And Gabbs has nothing but praise for another man who has had an
incredible turnaround in personal fortunes during the past 12
months, too.
"Alan Pardew has been fantastic," says the 22-times
capped Welsh international defender. "Everyone gets on well
with the boss and he really makes you want to play for him. The
lads really believe what he tells us and we all go out there
wanting to put that into practice. The manager has faith in this
team and, right from a very early stage of the season, he was
telling us that we could win something this year.
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"Off the field, he's very meticulous and he doesn't
leave anything to chance. There's never any doubt left in our
minds because we know everything there is to know about every team
before we go out on the pitch."
Certainly, Gabbidon can expect to receive an in-depth analysis on
the Liverpool strike-force ahead of kick-off. But already the
six-footer has done some homework of his own.
"Although I've never actually played against him before, I
know that if I'm selected I'll be in for a tough game
against Peter Crouch," he says, as he prepares to look
skywards towards the six-foot seven-inch, Liverpool and England
striker.
"After all, he's taller than anyone else that I've
ever seen before, so I'll be hoping to find another couple of
inches before Saturday! Peter will win his fair share of headers
but he's also good on the deck, too.
"Although he took time to settle when he first arrived at
Anfield, he's scoring goals now and has ended up having a good
season. It'll be tough but, hopefully, I can make it equally
tough for him, too."
And as he spends Friday evening pottering around his hotel room,
relaxing, watching television and stocking up on the fluids needed
to get him through 90 energy-sapping minutes against the reigning
European champions, Gabbs can also take time-out to reflect on a
job well done at Upton Park this term.
"The entire season is testament to all the hard work that the
staff and players have put in and, although it'll be tough,
we've got to try and build on it next year, too," he
warns.
"From a personal viewpoint, there was pressure on me to prove
that I could play at this level, so it was a great achievement to
win the Hammer of the Year award in my first season at West Ham
United.
"It's rounded off a great 12 months for me. A year ago,
James Collins and myself were fighting off relegation with Cardiff
and could never have believed that we'd end up where we are
now. It's like a dream come true."