Lafferty is not sorry after snub
“I don’t want to be known as the guy who ignored Hibs. I want to be the guy who scored 25 goals for Hearts”
NEW Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty has insisted he does not owe Neil Lennon an apology after snubbing Hibs to join ‘the biggest club in Edinburgh’. The 29-year-old was branded ‘disrespectful’ by agent Keith Gillespie after failing to turn up for talks with the Easter Road boss at the club’s East Mains training base. Gillespie tweeted a picture of himself and Lennon, writing: ‘Still waiting. Another cuppa
KYLE LAFFERTY’S colourful first spell in Scottish football saw him score consecutive titleclinching goals for Rangers in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
But perhaps the striker’s most extraordinary feat in Glasgow was in uniting a divided city — in a mutual dislike of the Northern Irishman.
A bust-up with then Celtic boss Neil Lennon after a 3-1 Old Firm win in 2011 earned him Public Enemy No1 status at Parkhead.
A furious row with Ally McCoist — followed by Lafferty’s decision to walk away from Rangers after the club’s financial collapse in 2012 — saw club legend Mark Hateley label him ‘a panto villain’ and ‘waste of space’.
Lafferty’s wider unpopularity in Scottish football had already been cemented after he feigned being head-butted by Aberdeen’s Charlie Mulgrew in 2009, an outrageous piece of acting which was followed by a sly wink.
With that kind of backstory, it was hardly surprising that, before the ink had even dried on the 29-year-old’s two-year deal with Hearts, he had become embroiled in controversy after failing to turn up for signing talks with Lennon’s Hibs.
But Lafferty insists he will use his previous notoriety to help him cope with the abuse likely to head his way in the capital.
And he’s adamant he will be making headlines for all the right reasons in his second spell in Scotland.
‘I don’t want to be known as the player who ignored Hibs,’ said Lafferty. ‘I want to be known on the pitch as the guy who scored 25 goals for Hearts, won a bit of silverware for the new main stand at Tynecastle, got the club into Europe and took Northern Ireland to the World Cup.
‘If that all happens, it will be one of the best seasons of my career.
‘When I was part of the Old Firm I probably didn’t help myself. But I thrived on having the Celtic fans hate me and it’s probably going to be the same here in Edinburgh, especially with what’s happened over the last couple of days.
‘But I’ve joined the right club to progress and get Hearts to where they deserve to be.’
Lafferty claims to be a more mature player than the one who grabbed so many headlines from 2008 to 2012 prior to spells at Sion, Palermo, Norwich, Birmingham and Rizespor. ‘I’ve definitely matured. My hair is a bit greyer, for a start,’ he grinned. ‘Everyone remembers me from the Mulgrew incident and other stupid things that I’ve done. ‘But I always wanted to come back to Scotland to put things right and I’ve been given a chance to do that at a brilliant club. ‘I’ve learned there’s a time and a place to be the class clown. That’s in the dressing room but when you cross that white line you roll your sleeves up and do everything for your team-mates. I’m at Hearts to prove people wrong.’
Lafferty railed against suggestions that he was a party animal while in Glasgow.
‘I was out on the town maybe ten to 15 times in four years, so I don’t know what I’ve done to paint myself as the partygoer,’ he said.
‘One pint and I’m p **** d. I’d rather have a glass of red wine in the house and watch a movie.
‘Don’t get me wrong, everyone sometimes lets their hair down. ‘But there’s a time and a place — and helping Hearts lift a cup will be one of those times.’ Lafferty has vivid memories of the atmosphere at Tynecastle, which he says was intense enough to make him consider feigning injury. It is an ironic choice of words, given his failure to make the team bus for an away game at Hearts — citing a sore hamstring — saw him banned from Murray Park for two weeks by McCoist in 2012.
‘My Tynecastle memories are awful,’ smiled Lafferty.
‘It’s a terrible place for the opposition. I always thought: “Oh Christ, I think I’ll have a sore hamstring that week”.
‘I remember scoring a free-kick to make it 1-1 and making the mistake of running too close to the Hearts fans.
‘I was pelted with bottles, coins, everything — a granny even threw her false teeth at me.
‘But if I score goals here for Hearts, I’m sure I’ll get on well with the fans.’