21
It’s great
to be back
Hearts midfielder Barrie McKay makes his
long-awaited return after horror knee injury
By NIGEL DUNCAN
BARRIE MCKAY has endured several hard
months of rehabilitation following a knee
injury and the Scottish-born midfielder
admitted that there were dark days when only
the help of teammates helped pull him through.
Senior players including Craig Gordon and
Craig Halkett plus Liam Boyce were also
spending hours in the gym building their
fitness after serious injuries which was a
massive bonus.
Paisley-born McKay signalled his return with
a five-minute run as a substitute when Rangers
visited Tynecastle at the end of last year, and he
admitted it was good to be back.
His agony began when he pulled up during a
Europa Conference League play-off against
Greek cracks PAOK Salonika at Tynecastle and
he described the injury as a “freak”. Freak or no
it has caused the former Rangers, Greenock
Morton, Raith Rovers, Nottingham Forest,
Swansea City and Fleetwood Town player
physical and mental pain and discomfort as he
was in a knee brace for part of the time.
That made things difficult to get about, even
at home, and sleeping was not comfortable, but
McKay has worked hard in his fitness regime
during these difficult months.
The 5ft 8in player former Scotland cap at
various levels revealed: “It is quite repetitive
every day. Exercises maybe change every week
or so and it is building up the strength again
and getting ready and when you start running
you hope you don’t break down and that the
muscles are ready to cope.”
During that spell, McKay revealed that the
management team asked how the rehab was
progressing but he said: “Nobody is ever going
to get guarantees that they are going to come
back and play.
“For me it was important I got myself right
and to make sure that everything was done
correctly by the book and I was ready to go.”
He added: “I have missed five or six months
of football and it is going to take me time to get
back. I have been training and trying to get my
sharpness back in training. It is starting to
come back slowly and surely.
“But, it has been great getting back on the
training pitch with the lads and being back in
the squad and getting back on the pitch for a
couple of minutes, it was good to get back
out there.”
Looking back, the 28-year-old said: “To be
honest, it was a freak accident, there was
nothing else I could have done. It was the way I
pulled up and it ended up being my knee. Mostpeople thought it was my hamstring.
“I had to get on with it. It went quicker
second time around to what I had in the
summer (his other leg) and I had good people
around me who kept me positive like Halks
(Craig Halkett) who were injured at the same
time. It is not nice you are all injured but it is
nice to have people with you.
“You are always going to have the
frustrations as (normally) everyday you are
working towards games at the weekend and
they not there.
“You work all week to go out there on the
pitch and since i have come here this is the first
time I have experienced not being fit.“So, I think that has been the toughest thing,
not being able to help the team. Normally, you
kind of get that buzz for the games (at the
weekend) and you are ready to go and it (being
injured) was a definitely a different experience
to what I’ve had in the years I have been here.”
The talented player desperately wants to be
back into Europe next season.
He said: “Last year we got to some good
places and had some good games and as a
player you want to test yourself against the best
and that is what you are doing in these
competitions. Each year you want to be there
and if it means you play an extra couple of
games then so be it.”Hibs seek investment from US billionaire Foley
By CALLUM NAPIERHIBS HAVE HELD talks with the
SFA to discuss a minority
investment proposal from
American billionaire Bill Foley.
Rumors of investment from
Foley have been rife since the
news first broke in late October but
before it can officially go-ahead
Hibs require approval from the SFA
due to Foley’s involvements in
other football clubs AFC
Bournemouth and FC Lorient.
Current SFA rules restrict multi
club ownership in Scotland and
they evaluate proposals on a case
by case basis, Hibs have described
the initial talks as “positive.”
In an official statement Hibs
said: “Hibernian FC can confirmthat the club met with the
Scottish FA on Thursday 14
December 2023 to discuss a
minority investment proposal.
“The positive meeting saw Ian
Gordon and Ben Kensell outline
the proposal and discuss the
benefits for Hibs and Scottish
football moving forward.
“The Club looks forward to the
next stage of the process, which is
submitting a formal request for the
approval of dual interest
dispensation against article 13.
There will be no further comment
at this time.”
This was the first time the club
have officially commented since
the rumours first broke, and whilst
Hibs fans have been imagining
what the investment may mean fortheir teams future, they will now
have to wait for the outcome of
the process’ next stage for
official confirmation.
Speaking to talkSPORT prior to
the meeting Bill Foley said: “We’re
not going to be a controlling
shareholder, we’re going to be an
investor but we certainly want to
coordinate acquisition and
disposition of players with Hibs
and I know they can use the help.”
Whilst it seems Foley’s
involvement will focus on player
recruitment it is not yet clear how
this will affect the upcoming
January transfer window.
Talking at a press conference
Head Coach Nick Montgomery
previously said: “We don’t have the
budget to go out and sign players.“Maybe one or two players
leave, that’s football...that’s when
you can react and bring players in.
If that does change as a result of
new investment it would appear
that the club are prepared,
Montgomery said: “Definitely
always on the lookout for anything
that can improve the squad...
that’s an ongoing process that
myself and Brian McDermott are
constantly talking about.”
On the pitch, Hibees fan
favourite Martin Boyle recently
made his 300th appearance for
the club against Celtic, whilst he
was unable to mark the occasion
with a goal, he did score in the
next outing versus Livingston as
the side ran out 1-0 winners in
tough conditions.Bill Foley