Popescu is ready to win over Neilson once again
UPON signing for Hearts last month, Mihai Popescu caught a flight from Bucharest to Edinburgh under orders to spend the next fortnight holed up in an apartment in Scotland’s capital. Barred from all human contact, far less meeting his new team-mates, even the simple acts of popping out to the local shop or going for a run were off limits.
Had he not known any better, he might have wondered if his 14-day stint in quarantine was some kind of punishment meted out i n vengeance by his new manager.
As part of the St Mirren team that avoided relegation during a short loan spell last year, Popescu’s last contribution to Scottish football was to help deny Robbie Neilson’s Dundee United side promotion through the SPFL play-off system.
After helping Saints grind out a 0-0 draw, the 27-year-old also retains fond memories of slotting home a decisive penalty in the ensuing shoot-out.
His obdurate performance clearly stuck in Neilson’s mind too as he signed the defender following his release from Dinamo Bucharest.
Now free to train with his new club-mates, Popescu turned out in a friendly against Partick Thistle on Friday and is gearing up for the new season opener, a Betfred Cup tie against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Tuesday.
‘If the coach wants me to play, I will play for sure,’ he said. ‘I’ve had to do two weeks in quarantine but, before I came to Scotland, I was training every day and playing for Dinamo’s second team.
‘I think I’m ready. I need to do some training and see how I feel because it’s different being on a bicycle at home and running with the ball.
‘I couldn’t see anybody from the club, except when they came to bring food. They met me at reception with masks on — I took the food and went straight back home.
‘They sent me a programme for the exercise bike, along with stretches, abs work, push ups, stuff like that. But I feel okay, so we’ll see what the coach thinks.’
Thus far, the subject of that play-off encounter has not come up.
‘So far, we just spoke about how I was in the quarantine, if I needed anything and to let him know,’ added Popescu. ‘It’s the best thing for a player if the coach likes you and wants you for the team.
‘Every game at St Mirren had pressure around that time because we had a lot of points to recover in the league.
‘But we had a good team, with good players and characters. We finally saved the team at the end and I’m grateful to have had that experience in my career. Now, I want to win something for sure.
‘I’m happy to be back here in Scotland. After the loan, I spoke with St Mirren about whether I could come back here but I had a contract with Dinamo.
‘I’m finished with Dinamo now and have signed to play with Hearts for two years.’
While there’s a certain irony in Popescu returning to play in the division he helped St Mirren avoid, he is looking forward to playing for the Championship’s hot favourites. And as he settles back into Scottish life, he will at some point reach out to Ianis Hagi and invite him for a cup of coffee.
‘I haven’t spoken to him because we don’t have that friendly relationship yet but I’ve played against him,’ says Popescu. ‘Hopefully, I will start to speak to him because we’re both Romanian and we’re together in Scotland.
‘I’ll send him a message and maybe we can go for food or a coffee to speak about life here. He has been here for a few months already and is doing good things at Rangers. I hope he does well in the future.’
Ultimately, Popescu’s goal is to play against Hagi (below) in the top tier, at which point he will seek to extend his 100-per-cent record against his compatriot.
‘I played for Dinamo against his father’s team, Viitorul, but Ianis played just once because he moved on to Fiorentina,’ said Popescu. ‘It was a good challenge but we won, we beat them 1-0.
‘I want to get Hearts promoted so I can then play against him again in the Premiership next season.
‘I’ve got a two-year contract here — the first to promote the club and the second to be in a top-six team in Scotland.
‘The people back in
Romania watch a lot of Hagi. They follow everything he does here in Scotland.
‘The press back home write if he does good things here. Or if he has a bad game, they don’t put him in a good position. I don’t know why because he plays well in every game for Rangers. Steven Gerrard wouldn’t pick him if he wasn’t playing well.’
If the pressure of playing for Hearts doesn’t quite equate with the double dose that goes with being a legend’s son playing at either half of the Old Firm, Popescu is ready to shoulder a burden of expectation. ‘For sure, every team will want to beat Hearts this season,’ he noted. ‘That is normal, when you play against a big club you want to beat them and I always like to play with that pressure.’