Kris Commons

Kristian Arran Commons (born 30 August 1983) is an English-born Scottish professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Commons started his career at Stoke City and made his debut in 2000. After four years with the club, he rejected a new contract and signed for Nottingham Forest on a free transfer. He made over 150 appearances for Forest in four years there, and helped them win promotion to the Championship in his final season. He then moved to Derby, again on a free transfer. Injury problems curtailed his goalscoring in his first two years there, but in his final season there he had scored 13 goals by the time of the mid-season transfer window.

In January 2011, Commons moved to Celtic for £300,000. He went on to win five Scottish League Championships, two Scottish Cup. He was the top goalscorer in Scotland in season 2013–14 with 32 goals, and that same season won both the PFA Scotland and Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year awards. Commons fell out of favour at Celtic during 2016 and was briefly loaned to Hibernian. He was released by Celtic in May 2017 and subsequently retired.

Commons was born in England but qualified to play for Scotland, as his grandmother was born in Dundee. He made his Scotland debut in 2008, and went on to win twelve caps.

Club career

Stoke City

Commons signed a professional contract with Stoke City on his 17th birthday and made his debut in a 3–2 Football League Trophy defeat away to Blackpool on 16 October 2001. However, shortly after making his first team debut, he was out injured for a year due to a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. Commons managed to come back from this and made his league debut the following season on 10 August 2002 in a scoreless draw against Sheffield Wednesday. Commons won praise from his manager Steve Cotterill who stated "Kris is a great prospect with a fantastic left foot", adding "If he keeps working hard he has a great future." His first goal came in a 1–1 draw against Norwich City on 26 August 2002. His good form and promise led to him to being offered a new contract by Stoke, but he rejected it and joined Nottingham Forest on 1 July 2004. In his time at Stoke City, Commons made a total of 46 appearances for the club in all competitions (22 of which were starts), scoring five goals.

Nottingham Forest

Commons made his Nottingham Forest debut as a substitute for Eoin Jess in a 2–0 League Cup victory over Scunthorpe United on 25 August 2004 and scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 away win at Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup. The FA Cup proved to be a successful competition for Commons, as during his time in Nottingham as he was named player of the First Round, with over 60% of the votes, after his hat-trick and match-winning display against Yeading. In doing so, he became the first player to win the award twice in different seasons having also won it in 2005 after his performance in the fifth round against Tottenham Hotspur.

Commons endured an injury plagued 2006–07 season, but still managed to hit 13 goals in all competitions in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to keep the club's dream of promotion to the Championship alive, which including a vital goal against league leaders Scunthorpe United. He had a particularly productive last six matches scoring six and chipping in with a further four assists, though Forest ultimately came unstuck in the playoff semi-finals against Yeovil Town. Despite rumours that he was going elsewhere on a Bosman deal, Commons signed a new one-year deal with Forest on 2 July 2007. He made his 100th league appearance for Forest in the opening game of the 2007–08 campaign, which finished 0–0 at home to AFC Bournemouth. Forest eventually won promotion back into the second tier as runners up to Swansea City, following a 3–2 home victory against Yeovil Town, the team who had gained a playoff final spot at Forest's expense the previous May. Commons was named in the PFA League One Team of the Year.

Derby County

In June 2008 it was announced that Commons had signed for Derby County on a free transfer, penning a three-year contract with the club.

2008–09

He made his full league debut against Doncaster Rovers on the opening day of the 2008–09 season, which Derby lost 1–0, and played in Derby's opening five league fixtures before injury forced him to miss much of the next six weeks. He made his return at the end of October and scored his first goal for the club from a free kick in a 3–2 defeat away to Blackpool. Under Paul Jewell's management, Commons played predominantly as a wide midfielder but, following Jewell's resignation on 28 December following a 1–0 home defeat to Ipswich Town, he was moved into a supporting striker role by caretaker manager David Lowe for the first leg of the 2008–09 League Cup Semi-Final against Manchester United. Commons scored the only goal of the game, a 25-yard strike, as Derby ran out surprising 1–0 winners and was awarded the Man of the Match Award. Jewell's permanent successor, Nigel Clough, kept Commons in his new role and he played alongside Rob Hulse in Derby's attack for the rest of the season. Commons enjoyed his best form of the season in Clough's first few months in charge, scoring the winner against Coventry City, and netting twice in a 4–1 rout of Blackpool. He also scored the winner in a 3–2 win over Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup Fourth Round replay, as Derby came from 2–0 down to claim a first win at The City Ground for over 30 years. Derby fans named the goal the seventh greatest in the club's history, behind Commons' goal against Manchester United in the League Cup in joint fifth, in a poll as part of the club's 125th Anniversary celebrations. Commons' rich vein of form was curtailed when injury ruled him out for six weeks at the end of February before returning to the side for the final eight games of the season. He ended his first season at Derby with five goals from 30 league starts.

2009–10

Commons began the 2009–10 season alongside Hulse as Derby beat Peterborough United 2–1. Commons grabbed his first of the season in the following match, as Derby lost 3–2 away to Scunthorpe United. However, once again, injury curtailed Commons productivity as he appeared in just one match between 20 October and 2 January, a 0–0 draw away to eventual champions Newcastle United, where he came on as a 69th-minute substitute. An extended run in the first team followed and Commons once again approached his best from and helped revive Derby's stuttering campaign and dragged them away from the relegation zone. The team netted a 3–0 home win over Newcastle and a 5–3 victory over Preston North End. Common proved the assist for Rob Hulse's winner as Derby beat Nottingham Forest 1–0 and ended their rivals' 19 match unbeaten streak. However, an injury sustained in the first half of a 1–0 home defeat to Swansea City on 20 February ruled Commons out until the final game of the season, against Cardiff City on 2 May, as Derby avoided relegation for the second time in two seasons. Commons completed a full 90 minutes on just one occasion and managed just 11 league starts and a further nine substitute appearances, scoring three times.

2010–11

Commons started the 2010–11 season playing as one of the three advanced midfielders behind the main striker in Derby's new 4–2–3–1 formation. He managed his best run of games for almost 18 months when he started seven of Derby's opening eight games, appearing as substitute in the other, and scored two goals, including the winner in a 2–1 opening day victory at Leeds United. Despite this, Nigel Clough voiced his concerns over Commons' early season form, saying after a 1–1 draw with Barnsley: "For the amount of good possession we got to Kris Commons on Saturday, we didn't get anything from it and I said that to him after the game. We got the ball to him in decent areas, running at the back four, 10 yards outside the box, and we didn't get a cross, shot or save from the goalkeeper. If he is going to play in there he must start producing something." Commons responded with seven goals in his next nine games, including braces in a 3–1 win over Middlesbrough (in which he also missed a penalty), a 3–2 win at Doncaster Rovers and a 2–0 win at Ipswich Town to take his goal tally to nine from 15 league starts.

In October 2010, the final year of his contract, Commons expressed his desire to stay at Derby, though the club stated he would have to maintain his form if he hoped to earn a new deal. He entered into contract negotiations with the club towards the end of October, stating his desire that contract negotiations be concluded as swiftly as possible. Commons hit his 10th goal of the season, the first time he had reached double figures in league goals in a single campaign, with a first half penalty in a 3–2 win over Scunthorpe United. His performance earned him a place in the Championship Team of the Week.

Celtic

2010–11

On 28 January 2011, despite interest from Rangers, Commons signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Celtic for a fee of around £300,000 and was given squad number 15. The following day, he made an immediate impact, scoring the opening goal on his debut in Celtic's 4–1 League Cup semi-final win against Aberdeen with a lob from outside the box. On 6 February, Commons scored against Rangers in a Scottish Cup