Passion of Hearts turned Ngoo's head

Saturday 26 January 2013

There is a chance Michael Ngoo's perception of Hearts could become skewed.

Michael Ngoo has proven to be a timely arrival on loan from Liverpool

Custom byline text:

staff reporter

The callow Liverpool striker has agreed a loan move to the Edinburgh side until the end of the season, just in time to find himself in the squad for a Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final with Inverness Caledonian Thistle today. The latter stages of cups always serve to ramp up the atmosphere and Hearts supporters will be revelling in their day since their side are playing across town at Easter Road.

It is an occasion which will register with Ngoo as he was at Anfield earlier in the season when Hearts faced Liverpool in a Europa League tie. The echoes of the fervent cheers from the travelling fans after David Templeton gave the hosts a bloody nose in a 2-1 defeat still ring in the ears of a young striker who moved to Merseyside in a £250,000 deal from Southend United in 2009. Goodness knows what he will think when his new side get back to the nitty-gritty of a league campaign that has seldom been as colourful."Hearts are a big club," said Ngoo, who joins Anfield team-mate Danny Wilson in moving to Tynecastle. "I like how they had a passion against Liverpool so it was a no-brainer for me to come here. I was at the game at Anfield and I thought the passion of the boys was fantastic, and to be a part of that would be very good. I had a few offers in England but I also spoke to Danny and he said it was very good up here and the level was very good. "I'm very pleased to be at such a big club, the oldest club as well in Edinburgh. I've done a bit of research on Hearts and I know they beat Hibs 5-1 in the Scottish Cup final . . ."That reference should earn him popularity when Hearts return to cup duty today. He is just 20 but is highly thought of in England – having been tracked by Manchester United before giving in to the advances of Liverpool. At 6ft 5in, the striker also offers another dimension to the Tynecastle attack."They are fantastic players at Liverpool and you learn from them," said Ngoo. "You try to bring it into your game. I want to keep on developing. I think once I hit my peak I will be up there. I'm strong, aggressive, run in behind and I am a threat to goal. I am delighted to here to show everyone what I can do."Ngoo is unlikely to have to wait too long since Callum Paterson – a prominent player for Hearts this season – will miss at least two months with a foot injury. The youngster has suffered a muscle tear while training this week.The arrival of Ngoo is timely, then. "The English under-21 teams didn't have much of a break over Christmas and New Year so he's been playing and he's match fit and raring to go," said John McGlynn, the Hearts manager."I don't want to put too much pressure on him, it's not fair to think that he's going to batter every ball that comes into the box into the back of the net. However, we hope that he's going to improve our goal scoring tally. He's going to give us a few different options. Hopefully make an impact."

Contextual targeting label:

Sport

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Passion of Hearts turned Ngoo's head

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED