FROM STARS IN SAUDI ARABIA TO A PILGRIMS MISSION

IAN Foster may have jumped at the chance to quit Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq to become manager of Plymouth Argyle.

- Chris Dunlavy

But unlike Jordan Henderson, the 47-year-old doesn’t regret a single minute of his time in Saudi Arabia.

“I loved it,” insists Foster, who took charge at Home Park earlier this month following Steven Schumacher’s switch to Stoke.

“Personally. Professionally. I’ve got nothing but positive things to say about the whole experience.

“I get the controversy around the league. I do. I’m English. I love the Premier League. I love the Championship and the EFL. When anyone threatens that, it’s inevitable there’ll be a reaction.

“You read the propaganda around it, how the standard’s not very good, how they treat people this way or that way.

“My experience was fabulous. The way they treated me and my family, the place itself. It was a beautiful part of the world and a wonderful place to live.

“The league itself, it’s not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s growing, it’s improving. They’re attracting top, top players.

“We had Moussa Dembele, Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Demarai Gray. We were more than alright.

“And the fabulous challenge as a coach was what we came up against. You play Al-Nassr and they’ve got a front three of Talisca, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane. You play Al-Ahli and the front three is Alain Saint-Maximin, Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino. You play Al-Hilal and it’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, Malcom and Neymar.