Former Aberdeen midfielder Craig Hignett has opened up on the personal problems behind his nightmare six-month spell at Pittodrie.
As a 28-year-old he left Middlesbrough as a free agent during the early era of the Bosman ruling for a bumper £8,000-per-week contract at Pittodrie - making him one of the highest paid players in Scotland back in 1998 outside of Rangers and Celtic. However, things quickly turned sour for the big-money signing as manager Alex Miller moved the recruit on after just six months and two goals - when he would make a six-figure move to Brighton.
At the time of the move, Hignett has revealed he was struggling off the pitch with a divorce impacting on how often he would see his children. He claims Dons' chiefs had promised him days off to allow him to travel south to spend time with his family - but that failed to materialise when the ink was dry on the contract.
However, he admits there are plenty of things he would do differently if there was a way to return to the Scottish Premiership side. Hignett, now 53, told the ABZ Podcast: "I felt like as it went on they had no understanding of what I was going through.
"I was telling them but there was no help. It was just 'oh well, I'm sorry about that' - it wasn't 'we will see if we can sort something out'. There was no understanding of it. If it was now I would deal with if differently, but when you are a young kid you are full on anger when things are going on.
"I had weird stuff as well. I had a stalker that had tried to follow me to Aberdeen as well. I had other stuff but with my kids and a divorce I needed settled down somewhere.
"I had bought a lovely house and I loved it, but I just felt like in the end the club didn't support me. They were putting me up for interviews at press conference. I didn't want to go in and I was made to go in.
"I ended up falling out with a reporter, I was really horrible in this press conference and I was wanting to fight everyone. At that point I was in such a dark place that if anyone said anything the least bit bad to me I would kick off. If it was now I would change.
"I look back now and think do I regret it. I don't regret it, but I would do it differently. I feel I have unfinished business at Aberdeen. It's a club I enjoyed being at.
"A lot of people think I hated it up there, I didn't. I really enjoyed it. It was just the other things I was going through and I felt I wasn't being supported. I think they thought what I was going through was trivial.
"Not seeing your kids, when you have seen them every day, and getting divorced - I'm going from seeing them 2 days a week to not seeing them at all in two or three weeks. It was hard for me to deal with."
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