Since he arrived in Scotland a year ago, there has been a suspicion that Rowan Vine could start a conversation in an empty stadium.

The gregarious Englishman appeared to give it a right good go yesterday, taking a seat in the main stand at Easter Road and proceeding to chatter on about his move to Hibernian and the unabridged version of the journey which has taken him there.

Not long after that, a group of journalists turned up and he gave an interview. It may not have mattered. As it happens the striker has signed a one-year contract and follows Liam Craig from St Johnstone, with the pair having been reunited just in time to contest a Europa League second round qualifying tie with Malmo on Thursday night.

One might add tentatively that it will allow both someone to talk to on the two-hour flight to Sweden tomorrow, yet it would seem unlikely that Vine will be short of company. His time in Perth would end in some acrimony since he claims St Johnstone neglected to inform him of their intentions regarding the one-year option which had been written into his deal, instead allowing his contract to run out without, apparently, saying a word.

That is not in Vine's nature, something the 30-year-old will readily tell you if you are inclined to listen. Or even if you are not. Yet he remains an affable character and carries the personality and experience to be of real use to Hibs when the club returns to European competition this week. There is ambition, too, since the striker had decamped to Scotland from Queens Park Rangers last year seeking an escape from a tarnished reputation, only to discover further disappointment following his treatment by St Johnstone.

"I thought they handled it poorly; I did feel a little bit disappointed at the way they had gone about it," said Vine, who would score seven goals in 28 game last term. "They put an option in the contract which meant they could offer me another deal but they had to do that before the January transfer window. They didn't, but I literally didn't have any conversation with them for the whole season, not one person.

"Then, three days before the Motherwell game at the end of the season, Steve Lomas told me they were cutting the budget and they didn't think they were going to even offer me anything because they weren't going to offer me what I was on. But I knew Murray Davidson had been offered a deal and had rejected it and I knew that Liam [Craig] had been offered a deal and had rejected it to come here.

"In early June, Tommy Wright did an interview and said I had left and wouldn't be coming back, which made it look heavily weighed on my side when they hadn't even spoken to me. They could have handled it a lot better."

It is an irritation but one which has been salved by the sight of Malmo and the opportunity to test himself in European competition. "Hibs are a much bigger club in my eyes and a better club," Vine added. "So, I can see the progression now but I have missed so much football that I feel like I'm playing catch up. I do want to prove a point to myself as well, I suppose."

If that had caused him to become a somewhat restless figure before making the move to Hibs, then there are those at Malmo who will sympathise – the Swedish side last night conceding that a run of four matches in the past 10 days (including a first round qualifying tie with Drogheda United) has left them keen for an early night. "I am very tired," said Magnus Eriksson, the Malmo striker. "That's two games in a row I have felt pain in my thigh and had to be substituted. This is a tough schedule we are on now."