Daniel Bogdanovic tells Chris Burton he is delighted to be settling down in England with Barnsley.
As part of skysports.com's Championship spotlight, Chris Burton catches up with Barnsley striker Daniel Bogdanovic
Journeyman striker is definitely a label which can be applied to Barnsley's Daniel Bogdanovic.
The 30-year-old frontman has turned out for eight different clubs over the course of a 10-year career, taking in three spells at Maltese outfit Sliema Wanderers and two at Marsaxlokk.
He has never spent more than a year at any given side along the way - until now.
Bogdanovic, a man born in Libya, of Serbian descent and who turns out for Malta at international level, has put down roots in South Yorkshire.
He joined the Tykes in January 2009 and has been slowly but surely finding his feet in English football ever since.
The tale of how he got to this stage makes for intriguing listening, though, with it already established that he has taken the scenic route to the top.
The vast majority of his career has been spent in Malta, but he has also taken in spells in Bulgaria, Hungary and Italy.
This is perhaps not how he imagined seeing the world, but that is how things have panned out.
Bogdanovic has also had to deal with some ridiculous bad luck, with his globe trekking exploits not entirely of his own doing.
Skysports.com's Chris Burton recently caught up with the affable hot-shot to gain a greater insight into his footballing life so far, and stumbled across a story of epic proportions.
"My career is a long story, because I twice went to clubs that went bankrupt, so I had to move," Bogdanovic said.
Bankrupt
"I was on long-term contracts at both teams, but couldn't stay. Once in Bulgaria they went under a week after I signed my contract, so I had to move. Another time in Hungary the club went bankrupt because the president left and they didn't have any financial back up, so I had to move again.
"I have had lots of movement, but that's not because I didn't want to stay or I couldn't. It's my job, I have to make a living, so I can't afford to not get paid and not get an income from it. I have to pay the bills!"
While things have not always gone entirely to plan, a short stint with Cisco Roma in Italy presented Bogdanovic with the rather unique opportunity of turning out alongside former Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton ace Paulo Di Canio.
He said: "We played together for four months. It was an experience.
"It was like League One in England. I had troubles with my former agent and I had to sign there. It's not something I want to make public, it was just a favour to a friend to go and play in Italy.
"That is now in the past, so now I want to look to the future. The future is bright and I want to make it brighter."
The outlook certainly does appear rosy for Bogdanovic, as he has broken into double figures for the season and has become something of a fans' favourite at Oakwell.
He admits things have gone better than expected, having been handed a baptism of fire upon his arrival in England some 14 months ago.
"I could have done better. I have been playing well and scoring goals recently, but you can always improve and always do better," he added.
"I am sure that next season will be better for me because this was my first full season in England. Last year I came in in January, which was a funny time as the club had to win a lot of games and it was a battle against relegation. But this season has been my first real season and I have got better."
There is now talk of a new contract set to be heading in Bogdanovic's direction, and he admits he would be happy to sign after finally fulfilling his dream of securing a switch to England.
Privilege
"We will have to wait and see about that," he said.
"If the team sticks together and things stay positive, the club has ambition to work hard and achieve something, why not."
He added: "The football here is the best on the planet. Every player wants to play in England.
"The life is good. The only thing I can say that is bad is the weather. Not for football though, it is the best weather for that. I have played in heat before and it is not very pleasant, so for football I think it is good.
"With the attention football is given in England I think it is fantastic and it is a privilege to be here. Life wise I am still trying to settle down, my family is coming over.
"Hopefully I will sign a new deal at Barnsley, but sometimes things happen in football. But I have settled really well and I am very happy. English people are very nice, so it has been quite easy for me to settle. And, like I said, to play football it is the best place to be."
While things are starting to fall into place off the pitch, and he has performed admirably on it, Barnsley's 2009/10 campaign has been infuriatingly inconsistent.
A play-off place appeared possible at one point, but a recent wobble has seen them slip back out of the promotion picture.
"We knew that we had the chance, we still have, to get into the play-offs," said Bogdanovic.
"But things in football do not always turn out like you hope. The start of the season was really bad, we had five defeats, so after the new manager came in the aim was just to stay in the division, because things looked really bad.
"It is frustrating because we have lost three games in a row now and we know we could have got something from them, but in football you have to always look forward and hope for the best."
Experience
On the reasons behind the recent deterioration in form, Bogdanovic said: "Maybe it was a lack of concentration or a lack of experience. In football you can never say what the reason is, there is never just one reason.
"Maybe there were individual mistakes and a lack of experience, because we have a lot of young lads playing. We had some injuries as well and suspensions. It was a bit of everything, so now we have to look forward."
While Barnsley would need a minor miracle to make the top six, they have made steady progress since Mark Robins was lured away from Rotherham to replace Simon Davey in September 2009.
He has helped to make the club competitive once more and Bogdanovic is full of praise for the highly-rated young coach.
He said: "Since the new manager came in, he has brought a new work ethic and some new players. We have had some players on loan from other clubs. I think there has been big progress this season.
"We could have done better, but that is football. We have to keep working and we'll see where that takes us at the end of the season.
"I hope most of the players will stay here and then maybe next season, if we all stick together, we will have a better shot at the league. That's the ambition of the club, to climb the league."
Barnsley will always be battling against the tide in the Championship in terms of budget, but they have shown that it is possible to piece together a side capable of holding its own in the second tier, and once again Robins deserves enormous credit for the manner in which he has worked wonders on a shoestring.
Bogdanovic said on the financial situation: "If a manager of Newcastle has eight strikers, the one at Barnsley has only three or four. If you have injuries you are in big trouble. That is the difference between big clubs and the smaller clubs, the quantity of players.
"These rules do not just apply to football, it is the same in life. If you want to live in a five-bedroom apartment you need so much money and if you want to live in a one-bedroom apartment you need this much money. That is life, not just football.
"But the manager has done a great job and things look positive. I think if he can keep everyone here for next season we will be successful."
