His history at the club means that he could never be the forgotten man of Hull City, even in his current injury crisis, but nonetheless it is gratifying to see Ian Ashbee thrust back into the spotlight today with the offer of a new contract.
Despite his age, his injury record and the continued rigours of a Premier League career that only began for him a year ago, it is without doubt that the news of Ashbee's extended deal with the Tigers will be treated with unanimous approval.
It seems to hint that Ashbee will be given full opportunity to regain and renew his place in the team and utter authority in the dressing room once he recovers from the knee injury that he suffered against Aston Villa in May and had subsequently labelled with a season-long healing calendar in the summer.
It's not impossible, but certainly improbable, that Ashbee will feature in the Hull City team this season. However, nobody should doubt that his presence behind closed doors is being felt by all, and the respect he commands goes to the very top.
Peter Taylor swore by him, Phil Parkinson got on his wrong side and was soon on his way (poor results were Parkinson's undoing, but plenty of stories remain about Ashbee disapproving of the manager near Adam Pearson's shell-like) and Phil Brown soon made it plain that a fit Ashbee would be the first name on every teamsheet he drew up in the Championship and Premier League. Pearson himself has every moment for Ashbee and Paul Duffen regularly waxed lyrical about the influence and inspiration of this exceptional captain.
Ashbee is the great storybook hero of the Tigers, the history-making skipper who rose through the divisions with City and earned himself a national following as someone who had made it to the top of club football the hard way - en route to the Premier League, he had to cope with unambitious previous clubs, awful injuries and loan spells in Scandinavia's foggiest outposts, among other things. It's been clear for a while that City has a plan in place for Ashbee when he chooses to retire from playing, and handing him a contract that will expire when the great man is pushing 35 proves it just a little more.
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