Conor Sammon is catching up with Jim Hamilton for the dubious honour of being known as Scottish football’s man of many clubs, but Partick Thistle’s new recruit is hoping his wandering days are over.
After making the Jags his tenth senior club, the Irishman is desperate to make a success of his latest move with a view of laying down some roots at Firhill.
Despite the fact that he has joined the club on a season-long loan from Hearts, he sees a longer term future for himself in Maryhill, but he knows that to earn that he will have to impress in the short term.
He admits he is jealous of the likes of current teammates Kris Doolan and Stuart Bannigan, who have been settled at Thistle for years.
“I do [envy them] definitely,” Sammon said. “It can be frustrating and it has been the five or six years where there have been new surroundings and fresh starts.
“You do get used to it and as you get a bit older you learn how to deal with it a bit better.
“I’m much more mature to go into a dressing room as a stranger. You might have known players from facing them.
“But ultimately it is quite a daunting thing going in there for the first time getting to know the lads, settling in. But I’m becoming a bit of a pro at it now.
“My aim is to find a home where you can get settled for a solid period of time. In football that’s quite difficult to do.
“But I’d love to have a three or four-year stay at a place where you can really get settled. That comes from me hitting the ground running and being successful here.
“I’m looking at it as a huge opportunity for me to have a good season. The club had a really good season last season so I’m looking to come in and add to the group and look to have a very successful season on a personal level and with the team.”
If Sammon can reproduce the form that earned him a move to Wigan Athletic from Kilmarnock back in 2011, then Thistle will have a player on their hands, and Sammon sees no reason why he can’t get there with regular football.
“This is an opportunity for me to get back to that level but I need to be playing regularly in order to do that,” he said.
“When you get a run of games under your belt, that’s when the march sharpness comes.
“You can work as hard as you like away from the pitch but it’s just not the same as competitive action. “So, I’m looking to score some goals and get the confidence coursing through my veins again, which every striker needs.”
Thistle faced a battle to land Sammon, because although he knew he wasn’t wanted at Hearts despite the departure of Ian Cathro, former club Kilmarnock were very much in the hunt for his signature.
“When I went back to Hearts I knew my future probably lay elsewhere,” he said.
“You’re in that limbo position doing pre-season but you know it won’t be where you will be come the start of the season.
“That was the frustrating factor. You’re afraid of missing out on too much action so I was pleased with the timing to get it done.
“It was a possibility [to go back to Kilmarnock]. I really enjoyed my time there at the end of last season. I got on really well with Lee (McCulloch) and Peter (Leven) there.
“I did speak to them but we weren’t able to get anything finalised. I had a couple of other options but I was delighted to take this opportunity when it arrived.
“I couldn’t wait to get stuck in to life as a Partick player with a home game against Celtic.
“That was a really good test for us. Although the result didn’t go our way it was nice to get out there and get 90 minutes and just get back to that competitive action every player loves to have every week.
“I’m excited and intrigued about this season coming up.”
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