OOSTENDE ADVENTURE IS HELPING HENDRY TO FIND FORM
HENDRY’S FOOTBALL EXPERIENCES HAVE SEEN HIM LAUDED BY RODGERS BUT THEN ABANDONED BY CELTIC AND STRUCK DOWN BY INJURY IN AUSTRALIA. NOW, THOUGH...
STUCK in a cul-de-sac at Celtic Park, Jack Hendry travelled to the other side of the world in search of a fresh start. Turns out the answers lay in the ‘east end’ after all. The Belgian port city of Ostende may lack the sunshine and cultural variety of Melbourne but it has provided safe harbour for Hendry after a stormy couple of years in which his mind and body took a battering.
Operating in the middle of a back three for KV Oostende, Hendry happily claims to be in his element in the Jupiler Pro League, a stage that has afforded him the chance to put his game back together out of the spotlight.
The 25-year-old won’t altogether rule out returning to Glasgow next summer but, with Oostende retaining an option to buy at the end of their provisional season-long loan, his future looks likely to continue on the continent.
‘My career has been stop-start for the past few years,’ he admits. ‘When this came round, I decided to go for it, make the most of it and get my mojo back.’
It was i n October 2017 that Brendan Rodgers sounded the bugle on Hendry’s rapid rise, using a post-match press conference to highlight the opposing centre-back’s performance for Dundee in a narrow defeat at Celtic Park.
Unprompted, the loquacious Irishman even offered up Hendry as a solution to the defensive travails of the Scottish national team.
Rodgers doubled down on those words with a £1.5million transfer bid the following January and suddenly medals and international caps were falling into the player’s lap. The fall was equally brisk. Hendry was not alone in struggling in Celtic’s Champions League qualifying defeat to AEK Athens in August 2018 but he was an easy target for those looking to apportion blame for the club’s failure to make the group stages for the first time in three seasons.
Nevertheless, encouraged by his manager to keep playing his natural game, Hendry’s willingness to gather possession and stride out with the ball had the tendency to spark nervousness in the Celtic crowd.
That agitation transferred back to the player to the point where he was removed from the firing line and then abandoned altogether when the more pragmatic Neil Lennon stepped in following Rodgers’ sudden flit to Leicester a few months later.
A loan move to Australia at the start of 2020 was a bold shot at rejuvenation that backfired in only his second appearance for Melbourne City.
‘I wanted to play in a good environment, experience a new lifestyle,’ he reflects. ‘I was a bit down at that time and it felt like the best route to go down, to try and enjoy life a bit more out of the firing line. I needed to get my confidence back.
‘To make that commitment to fly to the other side of the world and then get a serious injury in the second game — I just felt like I had no luck.’
Hendry attributes his torn knee ligaments to a touch of gamesmanship from the ground staff at Adelaide United.
‘Because we liked to play out from the back, Adelaide had kept the grass a bit longer,’ he explains. ‘It was 28 degrees that day and so the ground was dry.
‘It was the last minute of the game and the ball got played over the top. I didn’t really need to go for it but I sprinted to cover my full-back. As I went into a sliding tackle, my foot got caught, a bit of turf flew up.
‘I stood up and my knee was not stable. There wasn’t any pain as such and it was only after the second day that I really felt it.’
It was while watching Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem slugging it out at the Rod Laver Arena that Hendry began to realise something was seriously wrong.
‘I had tickets to the Australian Open final and felt I couldn’t miss out on that,’ he recalls. ‘I decided to go but I was hobbling about. We had the physio do the tests and my knee gave way — there were no ligaments there to hold it in place.
‘I saw a specialist and he suggested I have an operation. We contacted Celtic and they left it to Melbourne because they knew I was in good hands. Melbourne saw me as being vital to their push towards the play-offs, so they wanted to take care of me.’
Alone and in pain, Hendry describes the aftermath of his operation in the darkest of terms.
‘The days after surgery were horrific,’ he
I’ve never felt pain like it. I was in tears getting from bed to the bathroom
says. ‘I have never felt pain like it. I was in tears getting from my bed to the bathroom.
‘I was out there by myself so there was no one to help me through the night.
‘Those first few days were extremely tough mentally. I wondered what I had done — by agreeing to this operation had I made myself worse?
‘I was in extreme pain, waking up in sweats, but thankfully I got through it. I’m better for it. That experience put things in perspective a wee bit. All the little things in life, they’re not so bad.’
Another planet-sized dose of reality was just around the corner, Covid forcing his premature return to Scotland just three months after he’d made the big move. ‘I had six to eight weeks of rehab and was just about running again when the games were called off,’ he explains. ‘I got myself home in April because the flights were being cancelled.
‘It was a shame as I wanted to get back for those play-off games. And I’d planned to go all round Australia, too. Melbourne itself is a really nice city but I didn’t get to do as much as I’d hoped.
‘Still, I met some great people and it made me a stronger person. And I got to see the tennis!’
With Scotland i n lockdown, Hendry continued his rehab at home and waited patiently for the next opportunity to fall his way.
For Oostende’s new German boss Alexander Blessin, Hendry was the perfect fit.
‘Oostende contacted my agent and explained they had new owners, wanted to move in a new direction and saw me as fitting in under the new coach,’ says Hendry.
‘I knew right away this would suit my style — playing out, a high-press game and being quick enough to be able to defend one-v-one.’
A last-minute winning goal on his debut against Mechelen set the tone. Blessin has described him as the most important player in the team and one of the best defenders in the league.
Hendry added: ‘To score, keep a clean sheet and get the first win on my debut, it was all worth it in that moment. If you could bottle up that feeling…’
Even before that first overseas switch to Australia, Hendry had proved willing to put in the miles in search of career fulfilment.
Just a few months after his first-team debut for Partick Thistle in 2015 he was snapped up by Wigan, picking up experience via loans at Shrewsbury and MK Dons before finally flourishing at Dundee under Neil McCann.
At each stage, he insists he made a point of taking the lead.
Rodgers’ enthusiasm for ‘Project Jack’ led to a perhaps unfair characterisation of Hendry as the baby of that Celtic team but he
‘IF I PLAYED WITH A CLUB OF CELTIC’S STATURE AGAIN, I WOULD THRIVE. I CAN’T WAIT TO PLAY IN FRONT OF CROWDS LIKE THAT AGAIN’
concedes the dynamic was different in Glasgow.
‘Throughout my career, I have been that kind of leader, I always like to speak,’ he insists. ‘But Celtic was of a different stature to all the clubs I have played with because we had 11 leaders on the pitch.
‘Sometimes that means you are not as valued — it’s harder to express your opinion when you have such strong characters around you.
‘At Oostende, I have two young centre-backs either side of me and I try to help them as much as possible. I’m the leader of the back three.’
Life at mid-table Oostende may not exert the same pressure on the nervous system but the Belgian league is a box of tricks that throws out something new each week.
And he highlights Royal Antwerp — Rangers’ forthcoming opponents
in the knockout stage of the Europa League — as the most dangerous of the lot.
‘There are a lot of quick, powerful strikers here,’ he says. ‘That’s the main difference — you’re not up against multi-million-pound strikers every week in Scotland.
‘Probably the best team I have played was Antwerp. They beat Tottenham and they have Dieumerci Mbokani up front.
‘Club Brugge were in the Champions League this year, too, and their front line is valued at £60m — Emmanuel Dennis scored two against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu last season.
‘I feel as if I can more than hold my own against these types of players. That’s the level I want to play at — I want to play at international level, that European level where you are being really tested.’
Ultimately, Hendry knows that will only be possible if he puts together a significant run of games.
Now in his mid-20s, he has barely broken the 100-game barrier and knows he needs to play more if he is to progress and ultimately justify the faith Rodgers placed in him.
‘I only played 30 games for Celtic but I had the best schooling there,’ he continues. ‘Brendan obviously really wanted me to be there. I learned so much from his training and his philosophies. Also from his assistant Chris Davies and Kolo Toure. He is a top manager and you see the job he is doing at Leicester.
‘Nothing was left open to question — you knew exactly what your job was on the pitch. I’m thankful I could play under a manager like him.
‘Overall, being at Celtic was probably not the most enjoyable spell but, to be honest, I wouldn’t change anything. It’s made me a better player.
‘If I was to play with a club of that stature again, I would thrive. I can’t wait to test myself and play in front of crowds like that again.
‘Because what I have learned from that short spell will stand me in really good stead.
‘I believe in myself and I believe in my ability.’
Given Lennon’s disinclination to select Hendry — he has played just 11 minutes of football for Celtic since Rodgers’ departure nearly two years ago — it would seem unlikely he has a future at Parkhead under the current regime.
‘That’s a question you would probably need to ask the gaffer himself,’ says Hendry. ‘I can’t really answer that. My main focus is the next few months at Oostende.
‘Whatever happens after that is outwith my control. All I can do is perform well and the people who make those decisions will.
‘I have had no communication from Celtic. No one has spoken to me. I’m an Oostende player. Nothing else at the minute.
‘This was was a clean slate. I didn’t really say much when I came out here — I let my football do the talking and hopefully long-term I will be rewarded for that decision.’
Although there have been no Grand Slam tennis finals to attend and coronavirus continues to limit his lifestyle, Hendry has acted on the lessons of his Australian misadventure.
‘I have my girlfriend Robyn out here,’ he adds. ‘It’s good to have someone by your side because, as I’ve learned, life can be quite lonely. Unfortunately, no one else can come out because of quarantine but the environment here is good.
‘There is a close connection between the fan base and the players because the club is so localised.
‘If any young Scottish player is thinking of going abroad, I would definitely recommend it.
‘If you can experience a new lifestyle, meet new people playing the game you love, then why not?’
I have had no communication from Celtic. I’m an Oostende player. Nothing else at the minute