I’VE SHOWN JAMBOS MY TEAM NOW
NEW Hearts keeper John McLaughlin admits he’s already passed a Tynecastle integrity test.
The Edinburgh-born Hibs fan made his debut in a 4-1 derby reserve win last week that helped prove his heart now belongs in Gorgie.
It’s taken a bit of globetrotting for the 29-year-old to return to the city he left as a toddler. But he’s adamant he couldn’t be happier, even if his move has put his family’s noses out of joint.
McLaughlin said: “It was nice of them to chuck me into the game against Hibs straight away – just to test me and make sure there was no old affiliation still there. I showed I’d burned all the bridges I suppose.
“Growing up, with the parents and uncles who were Hibs fans, that was who I would look out for.
“My family moved to the Middle East when I was a baby so having never lived here, having never been given the opportunity to go and support any Scottish side, I’m certainly less of a diehard Hibee. Definitely the family are more Hibs than the Hearts side.”
McLaughlin was released this summer by Burton despite being first choice as they avoided relegation from the Championship.
After impressing during a trial spell he has signed a one-year-deal and has no doubt he’s made a step up by returning to the capital.
He said: “Hearts are certainly a bigger club, a club people know around the world because it’s got the history.
“Burton’s a very young club. It’s only been around since 1950 and only been in the Football League for 10 years or so.
“So its support is much smaller, its finances are much smaller, whereas a club like this that is so well established I certainly see as a step up, and moving into a top-flight league.
“I only found out about the opportunity just a couple of days before I came up. I’d been speaking to a lot of clubs down south when I became aware Hearts might be in the market for a goalkeeper. As soon as I knew that it was one I didn’t want to pass up on.
McLaughlin’s first task will be a battle to claim a starting spot with fellow keepers Jack Hamilton and Viktor Noring.
He added: “As a keeper it’s the toughest part of the business. We have to work so closely together but only one can wear the shirt.
“Jack has stepped in and done well for a young keeper. That’s the difficulty and challenge ahead of myself now. In the last five or six years I’ve been the No.1 playing a lot of football every season and that’s my intention again.
“But it’s certainly no given that the shirt is going to be yours. You have to come in and fight and prove you’re the best man for the job. That’s the task for me.”