Dan Burn has spoken of the debt of gratitude he owes to Gary Caldwell and LaticsDan Burn has spoken of the debt of gratitude he owes to Gary Caldwell and Latics
Dan Burn has spoken of the debt of gratitude he owes to Gary Caldwell and Latics
Dan Burn has opened up on the debt of gratitude he owes to Gary Caldwell and Wigan Athletic - and the guilt he feels at contributing to the man who kickstarted his career getting the sack.
The 32-year-old Newcastle United defender has been living the dream over the last week or so.
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On Sunday, he opened the scoring for his hometown club in their 2-1 Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool at Wembley.
The following day, he joined up with the England squad for the very first time, ahead of their World Cup qualifying double header against Albania and Latvia.
Not bad for a player who was released by Fulham in the summer of 2016.
But a perfect example to anyone that - with hard work and a great attitude - anything is possible, even after years of swimming against the tide.
"I've always been quite resilient from early on, because I felt like I was being written off a lot of the time," said Burn. "I was never the best player in the school team, but I always felt I had a chip on my shoulder, so I wanted to prove people wrong. That's driven me throughout my career, and confidence has always been a big thing for me, especially when I've been playing regularly in a team.
"Playing with no confidence...it's second guessing yourself, overthinking stuff...which I used to do a lot, even to the extent of what I was eating, and not really switching off from football. I was playing with a fear of not letting people down, and giving people the chance to say 'see, I told you he wasn't good enough to do that'. That's what drove me, that fear."
That fear of not being enough surfaced again in 2016, when Burn was given the news every professional footballer fears hearing.
All of which led to his move to Latics, with Caldwell the only manager realised there was untapped potential in Burn.
"I'd been speaking with Fulham about trying to agree a new deal, there was something on the table, but at the end of the season they told me they were having a big clear-out and I was being released," he said.
"At that point, my confidence was shot, I'd been in and out of the team, we were always bringing in new centre-halves...I'd gone from playing in the Premier League to, two and a half years later, not even getting a game in the Championship, and being released.
"I think I was quite naive at the time...I thought I would leave Fulham and there'd be a long list of clubs waiting to sign us. The reality was there wasn't...there was only Wigan, who took a chance on us, and even then I wasn't great to start with, to be honest.
"I feel so bad for Gary Caldwell, and every time I see him, I apologise to him, because I pretty much got him the sack. But he would always say, even though I wasn't playing well, what a great player I was and that the best was yet to come. He just wasn't given the time to see that, and I do feel guilty about what happened, because I felt like he really believed in me as a player, and gave me a regular run of games in the side.
"I wasn't thinking that if I made a mistake, I wouldn't be playing the next week...the more games I play, the more my confidence built up...and I feel I've always played better when I've relied on my instincts, and not putting too much thought into things."
Speaking to Juliette Ferrington on Sky Sports' 'One-On-One' podcast, Burn admitted his two-and-a-half years with Latics was the 'turning point' in his career.
"Yeah it was, definitely, from a confidence point of view," he said. "We got relegated at the end of that first season, but I was voted player of the year, which was obviously massive for my confidence.
"In the second year, we managed to go straight back up as League One champions, and my wife gave birth to our first child, my daughter, and that changed everything. It took a lot of the pressure off...suddenly, football wasn't the be all and end all, your perspective changes, and that's something I say to all the lads now. You realise you're here to support them, to keep them going, they don't really care what you do as long as you're there with them."
Burn also opened up on his move to Brighton and, in typically self-deprecating fashion.
He added: "I broke my foot in pre-season, and my agent called me to say Brighton wanted to sign us. I thought: 'I've just broke my foot'! That obviously wasn't ideal, but they said they'd sign us, and I'd stay at Wigan on loan for the first half of the season.
"I thought at least I could get my rehab done here, play a few games, and then be in a position to challenge for a place when I went to Brighton in January. It was a good deal for Brighton because, in Premier League terms, I wasn't on a lot of money, and it helped their quota situation - which I didn't realise at the time because I was a home-grown player, because one of their players had just left.
"I knew I wasn't going to play from the off at Brighton, so I just concentrated on training, spending time with the family, and making sure I was ready for January, and happily it all worked out for me."
Related topics:EnglandFulhamNewcastle UnitedWembleyLiverpool
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