Bleach blond hair, questionable clobber and a swagger to rival Liam Gallagher. Seeing Harry McKirdy walk in the door at Hibs last week was like looking in the mirror 20 years ago.
Talk about a big entrance. This guy was making an impression before he’d even kicked a ball with his look-at-me arrival in Leith. And I for one love it! Hibs are needing that bit of arrogance, confidence, cockiness, whatever you want to call it. Something tells me McKirdy isn’t a shrinking violet. I was the same.
People might think that Derek Riordan and Garry O’Connor were flash back in the day. They were actually really shy. I was the one that craved the limelight more than anyone at Easter Road. I loved scoring goals and being in the paper. As long as you can back it up there’s not a problem and I reckon McKirdy will back it up.
A word of advice for flash Harry though - avoid Edinburgh’s strip joints and don’t end up on the front pages of the tabloids. If you do get caught then don’t double your trouble by imitating a pole dance when you’re celebrating a goal days after being caught in said strippers.
It’s an infamous tale now for the ‘Hibs six’ that got shamed in a red top after being caught in a well known lap dancing establishment in the capital after a few beers. In my defence, I was 21, single and loving life and the only care I had was that my mum and dad would kill me if they found out.
Some of my older, married team mates might have been a bit more embarrassed by the whole episode mind you. We all got fined a week’s wages for shaming the club.
It got worse for me though. The next weekend we were up at Tannadice playing Dundee United. I was told in no uncertain terms by Bobby Williamson “do not do a thing to antagonise anyone - keep your head down!”
Of course, I scored an equaliser in a 2-1 win and you know what comes next. McManus gyrating on the pole that holds up the nets behind the goal.
I thought it was a good laugh. It was certainly topical! I’d scored a big goal and even Bobby must be celebrating .. or so I thought.
I’ll never forget seeing him flying out the dugout as I came down off that pole. He was purple with rage. Rod Petrie was in the stand as well. My promise not to do anything stupid had lasted a few hours and cost me another week’s wages!
So I would urge McKirdy to stay out of these places when getting to know our wonderful capital city! He’s definitely a colourful character though and that’s got to be good in both a playing sense and for the dressing room.
He’s off the cuff and sees things differently on the park. Bar Martin Boyle Hibs have badly needed that spark from someone who has something a bit different. McKirdy showed flashes of it off the bench on Saturday with his runs and a couple of balls he slipped through.
You need arrogance to play for Hibs because it can be a tough place to play when things aren’t going well and you need to keep getting on the ball. It’s certainly going to be entertaining when he finds his feet that’s for sure.
Funnily enough Hibs are back at Tannadice this weekend and incredibly they are looking for their first back-to-back league wins since they were last there on Boxing Day - Shaun Maloney ’s second game in charge. That was 25 games ago and it’s a record that’s simply not good enough for Hibs.
This is a chance to end that. After beating Kilmarnock convincingly at the weekend and against a side with no permanent manager they really should be looking to take all three points. It’s wide open for third right now.
People might have thought Hearts would romp it but they’ll struggle with the European fixtures overload. Hibs must make sure they are in the mix to take advantage.
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