GOALKEEPERS’ UNION
His team-mates may have been cursing Scott Bain as the Dundee goalkeeper staged a one-man show of defiance to win his side a point, but at the other end of the Dens Park pitch, Ofir Marciano was applauding the performance of his opposite number which won him the man-ofthe-match award and praise from both Hibs boss Neil Lennon and his own gaffer Neil Mccann.
Little did he think that day back in August that he and Bain would again find themselves rivals, this time fighting over the No 1 spot at Easter Road, with Bain snapped up by Lennon on loan after Marciano’s understudy Ross Laidlaw suffered a seasonending shoulder injury.
Bain surprisingly found himself surplus to requirements on Tayside after a bust-up with Mccann, that remains something of a mystery to outsiders, resulted in the Edinburghborn goalie being frozen out at Dens. Delighted to have found himself at Easter Road, Bain has already insisted he wants to make Hibs’ gain Dundee’s loss, a clear signal to Israeli internationalist Marciano that he hasn’t simply signed up to warm the bench.
Marciano has found himself on the sharp end of Lennon’s tongue a couple of times this season. The Hibs boss criticised the goals he lost as Motherwell came back from 2-0 down to snatch a draw before
OFIR MARCIANO at night you have to ask if you did your best, if you can do better. This is what I try to do every day, to be better. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I try.
“Asagoalkeeperyougetpunished for every mistake you make. It’s not like a striker who can miss goals then score one and nobody remembers the misses. But that responsibility is part of the job and a goalkeeper just has to accept that.”
On arriving at Easter Road, Bain revealed he felt his display as Dundee held Hibs to a 1-1 draw may have played a part in Lennon making him his first signing of this transfer window and Marciano admitted it was certainly a performance he vividly remembers.
“He is a great guy and a great goalkeeper,” said Marciano. “When we played against Dundee earlier in the season, he was great. I was clapping him. I always clap when the goalkeeper on the other team makes a wonderful save. I know how to appreciate good saves. We had so many chances to win that game, but he made many good saves and we didn’t get the win.
“He is a good addition to the squad and the team. It’s good for the goalkeepers’ union to have a good goalie who will push us to be better.”
And as for the threat Bain might pose to his own place in Lennon’s side, the 28-year-old said: “All the way through my career I’ve always had a good relationship with the other goalkeepers. There’s a competition with Rossco, but the way I see it is I always need to prove myself.
“It’s good that I have good competition but the way I see it I always need to compete with myself. I take competition in a positive way.
“You need to show your abilities and be the best you can in every game and every training session. It doesn’t matter who the other goalies are. You just need to do your best for the sake of your career.”
Marciano has had the chance to get to know Bain and another new arrival, Australian striker Jamie Maclaren, during this week’s training camp in the Algarve, a trip he believes will pay dividends when capital hostilities resume with Hibs heading across Edinburgh for another Scottish Cup derby with archrivals Hearts.
He said: “It’s good to be far away from the training environment you are used to every day. It’s great for the group to be together and build something good for the second half of the season. A change of scenery is nice sometimes. It’s a good idea.
“It is very good for the new players to integrate into the squad. We have a week together and we are getting to know each other and the rest of the players.
“Scott had to get up and sing a song for his initiation into the squad. I didn’t know the song, but he is a great singer and I was applauding that as well.”
“When we played against Dundee earlier in the season, he was great. I was clapping him. I always clap when the goalkeeper on the other team makes a wonderful save”