I want to stay at Motherwell and improve... I watch clips of Gareth Bale for inspiration
SAYS JAKE HASTIE
JAKE HASTIE is flying so high right now that he could easily lose sight of where he has come from. It is to the Motherwell teenager’s eternal credit, then, that despite his extraordinary exploits at Fir Park since the turn of the year, his feet remain planted firmly on the ground.
The scorer of five goals in six games since returning from a loan spell at Alloa, the growing fear among the club’s faithful is that the expiry of the player’s contract this summer might see him gone before they have had time to fully appreciate him.
After his latest howitzer in the 2-1 win over Hearts on Sunday, Stephen Robinson, the Motherwell manager, implored the player to put playing football before earning pounds at this stage in his career.
Although negotiations between Hastie’s representative and the club are still ongoing, mercifully, it appears that the 19-year-old is headstrong enough to appreciate what’s good for him.
Asked if or when he would be putting pen to paper, Hastie replied: ‘My agent is still in talks, so hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
‘I definitely want to stay here. I’m playing football and that’s the main thing.
‘I’m still only 19 and I’ve still got a lot to learn about the game and this is the best place to do it.
‘It can be a bit frustrating, but I’m just letting my agent deal with it.
‘I know that some players have gone down south when they’re really young and it hasn’t worked out, so being here just now is the best place for me.
‘I just want to keep doing what I have been and keep playing well.’
The fact that David Turnbull, the scorer of a fortuitous winner on Sunday, has also committed his future to the club figures prominently in Hastie’s thinking.
‘I’ve said before, I came up all the way through with David since we were nine, and playing together is even better right at the top,’ he added.
‘I’m over the moon right now, I’m really happy. You can’t beat it, honestly.’
These are salad days for Motherwell. In danger of being sucked into a relegation battle as they made the short trip to Hamilton on December 29, their record over the past six league games is flawless.
But it’s not just the fact they are now just two points shy of the top six courtesy of that 18-point haul that has their fans in raptures. Hastie and Turnbull have given Robinson’s side a welcome infusion of zest and potency. With Allan Campbell now a mainstay of the side and Chris Cadden on the comeback path, reasons for optimism abound. ‘All the young ones here are always up in the gym,’ explained Hastie. ‘We’re always doing extra and we’re always the last ones out of here. ‘We just need to keep doing that. We’re on a good run and we go to Celtic Park (on Sunday) with nothing to fear.
‘We just need to keep working hard and keep doing what we are doing.
‘Could we yet make the top six? If we keep taking it game by game, definitely.
‘We’ll go to Celtic Park trying to make it seven on the bounce.’
Hastie has certainly earned that opportunity. Robinson’s side may be characterised by its work ethic and togetherness, but the teenager has added a little bit of stardust since returning from Alloa on loan at the turn of the year.
‘Jim Goodwin was really good with me one-to-one and he gave me the confidence to see how good I could be,’ said the youngster.
‘I felt that I matured when I went out on loan, especially from playing in front of crowds.
‘If you aren’t playing well, they are going to tell you that you aren’t playing well. And if you are playing well, they will tell you, too.
‘I just feel as if I’ve come back here and I am now taking my game to the next level in every match.’
He has ambition to match his talent but concedes that a starring role at this juncture was not in his thinking.
‘My expectations were to come back here and fight for a place in the first team,’ added Hastie.
‘I didn’t think it would come straight away, I thought I would have to bide my time a little bit, but, luckily, I got on because of injuries and now I just need to keep doing what I’m doing and keep giving the gaffer a headache.’
His sources of inspiration are varied. The other young bucks who are now populating Robinson’s side. The senior pros. Regular visits to YouTube to watch a master practitioner like Gareth Bale in full flow.
‘I actually watched a couple on Sunday morning before I played,’ he smiled.
‘I used to watch him more when I was younger and he was at Tottenham before his move to Real Madrid.
‘Obviously I’m not as good as him, but I try different aspects of his game and I try to work on the way he runs at folk.
‘He’s so quick and powerful, so I’ll keep working away up in the gym to get bigger and stronger.’
For Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows, there will never be any pretence that talents like Hastie won’t one day fly the nest.
The club is sold to players on the basis that it won’t stand in their way when the right opportunity comes along.
The fact Hastie recognises that juncture is still some way off convinces Burrows that the player will, indeed, pledge his immediate future to the club in the coming days.
‘Jake Hastie has the world at his feet, but he’s also got a brain in his head,’ said Burrows.
‘He played a lot of League One games with Airdrieonians, he played at Alloa earlier in the season, and now he’s playing games in the Premiership.
‘For his development, hopefully we can persuade him that playing another 50-60 games here, that’s what the James McFaddens and David Clarksons have done, and then go and earn their big money.’