HEARTS midfielder Ian Black today insisted that he's turned over a new leaf – and he can't wait to prove it by handling the pressure of an Edinburgh derby.
The player signed a pre-contract agreement with Hearts back in January but had to wait six long months to report to his new place of work yesterday.
The former Inverness player has, perhaps unfairly, earned a tag as something of a hothead. His combative style led to him picking up nine bookings last season, however, he was only sent off once in his five years with Caley.
Having supported Hearts as a boy growing up in Tranent, the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a game against Hibs will be the ideal litmus test for the player's temperament, but he's certain he can handle the heat.
He said: "People have knocked me in the past but I've curbed that recently and I like to think of myself as something of a quiet boy now! I like to get on the ball. I like to pass, to keep the ball but I think everyone needs that little bit of grit that I have got as well.
"I've watched the derby for years and I would love to be involved. I have been to the last couple and to be able to go out there and actually play in one would be great. You can be cute on the park, it is obviously a big game for the clubs involved and for the fans, it is a massive occasion in Edinburgh.
" I just want to go out in these games and get all three points – if I can play in those games then that's brilliant for me."
The 24-year-old admits that it was difficult having six months to wait before joining up with his new team-mates and that he felt a strong sense of guilt at leaving behind friends who had just been relegated to the First Division.
But now that he is finally at Tynecastle he can't wait to get started: "It's been six months and I think the summer was the hardest bit. Usually players can't wait for the summer to start – but I just can't wait for it to end. I just can't wait to be involved and now that the time is here I'm really excited, I can't wait to get started.
"I always looked out for Hearts' results and hoped that they would get into Europe. Obviously they managed to do that and I was delighted. When I was at Inverness I was focused on trying to keep them in the SPL but Hearts crossed my mind at times.
"It's a nice change for me to go from relegation to playing in Europe but it was disappointing not to be able to keep the team up. It was difficult leaving the boys after we were relegated. I spent five years there and worked under some very good managers.
"I am sure though that they will do well this season coming and I'm hoping to do the same, I just want to concentrate on doing well for Hearts."
The one thing that he's looking forward to with the Jambos is being part of a solid unit, cultivated by the arrival of manager Csaba Laszlo at the start of the last campaign, and the Hungarian has certainly made a good first impression on Black. "My first impressions of the manager are good, he's a nice guy, he's very passionate and the way that he gets the boys together and wants us to work is just great," he said.
"I don't think Hearts are really missing anything – they did a great job last season. But the manager has brought me in to do something for him and I am sure he will sit down and speak to me and watch me over pre-season. Whatever he asks me to do, hopefully I can do that to the best of my ability. Just from watching them last season I can see that the manager has made them play for the shirt, not for themselves and they have shown how good they can be. I want to be part of that."
Midfield is one of the strongest areas of the park for Hearts, despite the departure of Bruno Aguiar and Christos Karipidis in the summer, but Black has been keen to play down any comparisons between himself and the Portuguese. He conceded that there were some similarities in their style and position but insisted that he is simply concentrating on fulfilling whatever role Laszlo asks him to take on.
There is a likelihood that Black, if he can oust either Michael Stewart or Ruben Palazuelos, will be asked to fill a similar holding role to that so often played by Karipidis last season. "It is going to be a challenge for me, there's no doubt about that," he said. "I wouldn't like to think that anyone at the club is already assured of a starting place or squad number for the start of the campaign. We've got pre-season coming up and games in Germany and I am going to be doing the same as every other lad – and that's working hard to impress the manager.
"Whatever line-up he selects for the first game of the season, I am sure it will be right and if I am in that starting eleven then I will be delighted. People may well look to me to follow Aguiar and there are some similarities. I wouldn't like to say that I am going to bring anything in particular to the side, I just want to do whatever job I am asked to do."
