Beleaguered Sammon hoping to rediscover his mojo at Kilmarnock
HAVING become a target of abuse from cer tain Hear ts supporters and unwanted by Ian Cathro, Conor Sammon has every justification to be embittered by his seven months at Tynecastle.
However, the Irishman bears no grudges and instead is relishing a return to Kilmarnock where his goal-scoring exploits six years ago earned him a move to Wigan in England’s Premier League.
The 30-year-old, who spent two and half years at Rugby Park and scored 18 times in his final season, said: “Of course it’s been frustrating this season. Ian said he was going to bring a few players in, and a few strikers amongst that, so he didn’t see me getting a lot of game-time between now and the end of the season. That’s how it was left. I’ve got a couple of years left on my contract so it’s hard to say what the future holds. I’m just focused on the next six months with Kilmarnock. The rest will take care of itself.
“I’ve had experiences of fans booing for the past three or four years. You feel frustrated when something doesn’t work out as well as you’d like, but the more times you experience that the more you realise how to channel it and move on. You can’t take too much notice of the outside noise.”
It feels like returning home for Sammon, who only managed two goals for Hearts but feels he can regain his scoring touch again starting with today’s game at Hamilton.
He said: “It was six years ago that I left and I still feel like I can make the same goal-scoring impact. I’ve got a lot of belief that I can be a big player here. I feel like I’m a better player now.”
Hamilton have moved to ease tensions between the club and a section of supporters.
They will meet with them at noon today before the Kilmarnock match in response to fans’ group ‘We are Hamilton’ boycotting games in protest at, among other matters, the manager Martin Canning.
Les Gray, the chairman, said: “We are aware that there is unrest among a group of fans at a time that the club requires all supporters to get behind our team at this crucial stage of the season. I would urge that any fans that have issues that they would like to discuss come along on the above date.
“If after our discussions there are any fans who are still dissatisfied, we will respect their position and reluctantly offer them a full refund of their season ticket.”