Someone who can deal with an opponent with a crunching tackle and scold a teammate with a withering glare and a few sharp words.
Someone who accepts responsibility and is more concerned with actions than words. Speech is cheap.
However, if Roy Keane and Huddersfield Town skipper Jonathan Hogg ever found themselves as dinner guests, they would undoubtedly start up a conversation and find common ground right away.
Keane was the midfield enforcer par excellence in his days at Manchester United and is now cutting opponents down to size in his second career as a television pundit in which he has shown himself to be no respecter of reputations, which have to be earned.
Terriers captain Hogg gets that.
He is not someone who you would expect to follow others. He sets his own standards and minds his own house.
The granite Teessider showed that on a ‘Bear Grylls’ pre-season bonding trip to a remote island in Sweden ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, when his survivor instincts kicked in, with ex-head coach David Wagner effusive in his praise.
Hogg has been the one constant during Town’s tumultuous past decade, just as Keane was during United’s reawakening in the nineties.
In terms of being someone to follow, the United and Ireland talisman is the one exception for Hogg. Albeit from afar.
Hogg said: “I used to look up to Roy Keane, when he was playing. He was my idol. Every time that the football was on, I’d just watch Man United because Roy Keane was playing. That’s who I looked up to.
“The way he led the team, he led by example. He didn’t let anyone off the hook if they weren’t following him. He let them know.
“Everyone watching him could see he had that fire in his belly and desire to win and that’s what we all want to do – win games.
“We need everyone to pull in the right direction.”
Hogg turns 35 in early December. He remains a cornerstone of Town’s line-up, just as he was a decade ago in his mid-twenties.
Darren Moore has already talked up a player whose moniker with his team-mates and supporters is ‘The General’ and with good reason.
Huddersfield without Hogg lack a heartbeat. At a time in the season when league tables start to take shape, players like Hogg come into their own.
Hogg may be in the winter of his career, but his approach has remained wonderfully consistent.
His professionalism is unsurpassed; he does all the right things away from the pitch and is the ultimate ‘player’s pro’.
Hogg’s current deal at Town ends next summer and he is planning to stick around for a fair bit longer. He is not interested in earning a new contract by sentiment either. Perish the thought.
He continued: “I am only 34 and have a long way to go and plenty in the legs. Another thing is I wouldn’t let the side down. If I knew I couldn’t do it any more, then I wouldn’t play and I’d be ready to hang my boots up.
“But I know I have still got plenty more to offer.
“I haven’t changed a lot. I have always done things well. I don’t drink and I look after myself and try and keep myself fit and healthy. You see players playing at 37, 38 and 39 these days.
“You can’t just turn up on a Saturday. For me, I can’t.
“I’ve got to work hard all week to make sure my body is right for the Saturday or Tuesday. I have always been the same and won’t change now.”
Being active in his leisure time is something that won’t change either. Rest can wait until when he is retired. Which won’t be for a good while yet, hopefully.
Hogg said: “I probably have about 10cdays or two weeks (off) if I am feeling generous in the off-season. I can’t sit still. When I am home, I am never in the house and am always out and doing stuff. I find it hard to sit around doing nothing.
“Either I’m out riding my bike, working out on the track, or I’m running somewhere. That’s the primary component of my fitness.
The fact that the club legend is close to making his 400th Town appearance and joining an exclusive group of players in doing so won’t have slipped the notice of many supporters of blue and white. Four hundred games for one club would be extremely special, said Hogg, who transferred to the team from Watford in the summer of 2013. I see no reason why I can’t go there as long as I keep in shape.
Huddersfield Town has been a big part of my life. It’s 10 years now and hopefully a couple more to come, so it can be an even bigger part of my life.
“The enjoyment I have had with this club, the fans and people around it has definitely been a big part of my life.”And plenty more times to come, hopefully.
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