HIBERNIAN goalkeeper Yves Makalambay has spoken about the daunting set of circumstances he faced at Easter Road after joining the club from Chelsea because of the shortcomings of his immediate predecessors.
Aiming to reclaim the first-choice goalkeeping position from Grzegorz Szamotulski, Makalambay is preparing to face Rangers this evening encouraged by the knowledge there's now more interest in what he does next rather than what others did in the past
. The unhelpful reputation of Easter Road as a goalkeeper's graveyard, forged after Zibi Malkowski and Simon Brown both made calamitous mistakes in derby games against Hearts, meant the 22-year-old from the Congo, who plays for Belgium, encountered an unexpected career hurdle when he first moved to Edinburgh from London.
"I came here facing a massive task," he recalled. "I didn't just come here to do a job, I came here to erase the past and try to start a new era. You were asking a 21-year-old reserve goalkeeper to change history. That was asking a lot. But I like a challenge and, overall, looking back on the past two years, I'm pretty much satisfied.
"I know it's been difficult with quite a few ups and downs. But I didn't come here with much experience and was thrown straight into the games. Usually, when you arrive at a club, you look to the future. But I was talking about the past.
"Obviously what happened with the previous goalkeepers wasn't really my problem. I came here to do my own job and not to talk about them. That would have been an extra pressure for any goalkeeper coming to this club. It was a personal challenge for me to erase (what happened before] so that when the next goalkeeper arrives at this club, he's not talking about the previous one."
Makalambay lost his place to Szamotulski after tearing a hamstring against Hearts in January. Since the Pole's contract expires in the summer, however, Makalambay's return to form and fitness in the 1-0 win at Tynecastle last week has improved the Belgian's chances of staking a claim for more first team recognition next season. "I think I've been reminding the manager for the past four months (about what I can do]," he added. "I've been showing my attitude is right in training. And I've showed the whole club how I want to get better by asking to play a few games with the reserves.
"The celebrations for the win over Hearts are over and it's time to focus on the game against Rangers."
Makalambay is well aware Rangers are the only club in the SPL Hibs have yet to prise a point from this season. "I know about that little statistic, and if we can change it, then that will be a bonus," he said.
Although the Easter Road side cannot force their way into Europe, the goalkeeper says they won't do either half of the Old Firm any favours during the chase for the championship. He reckons Hibs have plenty of incentives and are motivated "for pride, for the crowd and for ourselves".
Intriguingly, Makalambay once spent some time on loan from Chelsea at Charlton where he became friends with Madjid Bougherra, the French-Algerian defender, who has been one of the cornerstones of Rangers' quest for the title.
"I played with Madjid when I went to Charlton from Chelsea and still keep in touch with him," he explained. "He helped me when I was at Charlton. I wasn't surprised by how well he's done with Rangers because I know about his qualities. He's been an instant hit and that's because of his consistency."
With Rob Jones, Chris Hogg and Sol Bamba all free from suspension – Colin Nish is also eligible again but is rated doubtful – Mixu Paatelainen faces the kind of selection headache tonight every manager relishes. On the one hand, he has experienced, powerful players available to enhance the effort against Rangers while, on the other, those individuals who grabbed three points from Tynecastle will hope they did enough to retain their places.
Paatelainen, who was pleased with the partnership of Steven Fletcher and Derek Riordan up front against Hearts, was sanguine about Fletcher's admission this week he wants to play in the English top flight. The ambition of Scotland's young player of the year to perform in "the best league in the world" is perfectly understandable, according to Paatelainen. Even though eye-catching performances in Hibs' forthcoming televised matches are sure to be scrutinised by interested Premier League clubs, Paatelainen still wants to see Fletcher in full flight. "I hope he plays a blinder," he grinned.
