Dean Ashton is usually the first name which comes to mind when West Ham United fans are asked to name a player who could have achieved so much more if it wasn’t for those injuries.
But Rob Green, Hammers goalkeeper between 2006 and 2012, feels the same can be said of Danny Gabbidon.
Green agrees with former striker Marlon Harewood that a Dean Ashton had shades of Harry Kane during his all-too-short peak at West Ham United. One of the most naturally-talented, all-round number nines of his generation was forced to retire at the age of just 26.
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Gabbidon, at least, lasted until his mid-30s.
But after being named the Hammer of the Year during his debut season at Upton Park in 2005/06 – the season in which Alan Pardew secured a top-ten finish and an FA Cup final – Gabbidon would average only eleven Premier League starts over the next five years.
Rob Green rues Danny Gabbidon’s injuries at West Ham United
Danny Gabbidon - Liverpool v West Ham United
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Still, Green picks Gabbidon alongside Matthew Upson, Lucas Neill and Matthew Taylor in his ‘Dream’ West Ham backline.
“Danny Gabbidon, I thought he was fantastic,” Green says alongside Carlton Cole, who labels the Welshman a ‘Rolls Royce’ on the club’s official YouTube channel.
“There was one game; we played Arsenal at home in my first season here, and Thierry Henry got the ball on the wing and knocked it and went. Gabs just ran alongside him and just kicked it off the side for a throw-in. Thierry Henry just went, ‘Oh.’
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“If he’d have stayed fit… He had so many hip problems and alignment issues. You just felt he was someone who could have gone on to just a really, really high standard of football.
“A really nice, quiet, understated person. In a dressing room full of characters, he was someone who was just like, ‘it’s OK’.”
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Former centre-back partner James Collins felt Gabbidon had a bit of the Rio Ferdinands about him at the prime of his career.
Green, meanwhile, shares Harewood’s perspective when it comes to Ashton; the great number nine England never had.
“Dean Ashton could have been the link for England – I believe – between Harry Kane and Alan Shearer if his career hadn’t been cut short,” says Green, who now lives every day with a dislocated finger on his right hand.
“He had an absolute hammer of a foot! My fingers are in this situation mainly because of him!
“I played with him at Norwich as well, of course. On his day when he was flying, he could score a screamer, he could then go and chip the goalie with the outside of his boot from 20 yards, then go score a powerful header at the near post.
“He could eat a box of Quality Street in about 15 minutes! Two medium-sized pizzas as well. He could nail some food, that boy! But really, really talented.”
Ashton partners Carlos Tevez in Green’s dream selection of former West Ham teammates.
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