Football is littered with second chance stories - those players who seemed destined for the exit door when suddenly everything changed.
Whatever social media tries to tell us, there aren't bad footballers playing in the Premier League. You don't reach that level and overcome all of the challenges and scrutiny of coaches galore along the way by being a bad footballer. There are other mental aspects that do play a part, whether it's a lack of desire to improve, how they treat their bodies outside of the training centre, the suitability to a new league or country and the mental strength required to play at the very top.
Often though, when things don't go the right way for a player it can be simply down to circumstance, whether that's an injury, a change in tactics or a new manager who simply does not see them in their plans. Sometimes the latter two instances can work in a positive way, if mixed with the right attitude from the player.
READ MORE: Tottenham predicted team vs Aston Villa: Antonio Conte makes surprise decision as players return
Tottenham Hotspur have plenty of stories of those who have turned their careers at the club around - Moussa Sissoko transformed from a scapegoat set to depart to a key player for a couple of seasons - and a few players to fix their Spurs time have been among the biggest names.
Take three of Tottenham's brightest attacking lights in recent years - Gareth Bale, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane. All three needed changes to their situations and in some cases themselves to become the stars they have.
Bale was on the verge of being loaned out of the club, with that infamous long stretch without a win to his name. In the end it was an injury to left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto which got him back in the team and the rest is history.
Son wanted to leave Spurs after his first season in and out of the starting line-up. It took a summer meeting with boss Mauricio Pochettino to get him to change his mind, remain focused on the fight and now the South Korean star is one the best attackers in the Premier League.
For Kane, he was a young player with more loans than appearances for Tottenham. While he started to get a chance under Tim Sherwood it was Pochettino who changed everything about the striker's fitness and preparation, tapping into his desire to improve and that's when today's Kane was born.
While Matt Doherty will readily admit he's not a superstar like those three players have become since, it's a similar drive that has turned the defender's career around in north London.
It has been a tough time for Doherty, or Matthew as Antonio Conte likes to call him. There's something endearing about the old school way the Italian refers to the Irishman, like a teacher and one of his favourite pupils.
Doherty has worked his way into Conte's good books through simple hard work and turned his Tottenham career around from being someone with one foot out the exit door to a player who could well start next season as the club's first choice right wing-back.
When the Republic of Ireland international arrived at Spurs in the summer of 2020 he did so as a right wing-back who had created more goalscoring chances in his two seasons in the Premier League than any other right-sided defender apart from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Yet Tottenham played him as a more functional right-back under Jose Mourinho and then even his former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo did the same and Doherty did not look as comfortable, albeit with performances that he has admitted were not his best.
Last week, the 30-year-old defender spoke about his tough times at the club, with the nadir a match last year at Aston Villa when he had not been named in the squad - while 16-year-olds Alfie Devine and Dane Scarlett were - but Doherty still travelled to Villa Park in case of injury or illness to others.
As he went to get off the coach, Ledley King told him he had to remain on board due to Covid regulations and he sat there alone for almost two hours until kick off when he was allowed to enter the stadium.
This Sunday brings another trip to Villa Park and the opportunity for Doherty to purge the memories of those hours spent on the coach just over a year ago.
Doherty has been revitalised by Conte's arrival, with the Italian transforming his diet and the player has responded with a hunger to impress even when he was watching on as Emerson Royal started matches.
When he got his chance, Doherty took it and he has been involved in five goals in his past six matches, scoring twice and providing three assists, even if his last one technically has not been awarded due to the slight deflection it took on its way to Emerson.
When football.london asked Conte about Doherty's transformation, the head coach's eyes lit up - a teacher only too happy to speak about one of his hardest-working pupils.
"About Matthew, Matthew is the typical player that is showing good improvement," he said. "If you remember very well, at the start he didn't play a lot with me because at that moment I think he didn't deserve to play, but then he worked really hard.
"He's a really good guy. In every training session, you see the desire, the will to improve himself, the tactical and technical aspect. He's got a great mentality. He's strong.
"Many times when players don't play a lot, they go down mentally, but he's shown me to be strong, to stay there. He showed me, 'I can do what you want, I am going to improve and when I am ready I want to play'.
"He showed me not with talking but with his attitude and his behaviour and for this reason he is playing, he is deserving to play and he is playing very well. He has great confidence and I am very happy for him, because this is a big example for the other players.
"I want to win and I don't care if I play one player or another player, I decide the player when I see that this player gives me great attitude."
Doherty is full of confidence again and that is on display in what he's doing on the pitch and his link-up with other players. He has Conte's trust and he does not fear suddenly returning to the bench, with a restored belief in his own ability.
It's early days and close to two months since Doherty started turning things around if we begin with his spectacular performance at Leeds, although his display in the dramatic finale at Leicester in January showed the seeds of change had been planted.
Now it's down to the Irishman to show the consistency required to join the list of those who truly did a Tottenham Hotspur u-turn.
This story was first featured in the weekly Alasdair Gold newsletter. If you want to be the first to receive the behind the scenes from Spurs you can sign-up for the free newsletter here.
