Maka looking to make it stick at Hibs

Published on Tuesday 1 December 2009 08:50

IT WAS, he declared, the toughest 45 minutes of his career. Coming off the bench midway through what ultimately proved to be a 2-0 win over Falkirk.

But it was also the most enjoyable few minutes Yves Ma-Kalambay has spent in recent weeks, the towering goalkeeper coming in from the cold to replace the injured Graham Stack, pictured below, to help Hibs make it nine SPL games without defeat.

Now the Belgian Under-21 internationalist has his fingers crossed that, even if his rival for the gloves can overcome the back injury which brought his involvement at the weekend to a premature end, he'll retain his place for the visit of Motherwell on Saturday. It's a decision, of course, which doesn't lie in his hands, one which will be made by boss John Hughes but, nevertheless, Ma-Kalambay feels entitled to believe it's one his manager won't make without at least giving his claim some thought.

Revealing he only had a few minutes notice that he'd be replacing Stack, Hughes' summer signing from Plymouth Argyle, for the second half against the Bairns, Ma-Kalambay said: "I've had to come off injured before myself but that was the first time it's been the other way round.

"Stacky said at half-time he was struggling, that his back was sore. Our goalkeeping coach Scott Thomson took the pair of us back outside and put Stacky through a fitness test but he didn't pass it.

"I only had about three minutes warning I'd be going between the sticks for the second half.

"It was very difficult because all the other players are up to the pace of the game while it was all the harder for me because I hadn't played first team football for so long.

"It was probably the most difficult time I've had since I joined Hibs, going back in the middle of a game. The players and everyone else are counting on you. The pressure was on because we were leading by a single goal and you are aware that one mistake you lose two points, lose two goals and you drop all three.

"But I've played enough to deal with that kind of pressure and to be honest I thoroughly enjoyed the 45 minutes I played, particularly as, like Stacky, I kept a clean sheet."

What made his brief appearance all the more pleasurable was knowing he'd played his part in helping hoist Hughes' team into joint second place in the SPL table alongside Rangers with a superb save from Falkirk striker Pedro Moutinho. Spotting Ma-Kalambay off his line the Portuguese hitman audaciously attempted to clip a delicate chip over the keeper's head, the former Chelsea youngster using every inch of his 6ft 5in frame to divert the ball onto his bar and over, an action which led Bairns boss Eddie May to bemoan it wasn't Stack, who stands three inches shorter, still in goal.

Ma-Kalambay said: "Moutinho is a clever player. He saw me off the line and at one point I lost the flight of the ball for a millisecond. It was behind me but I managed to extend a fingertip just enough to stop it going in.

"It was my first real action in a long time so I was really happy to make the save."

Hughes would have been equally delighted although the Hibs boss appeared less happy a few minutes later as Ma-Kalambay dribbled the ball around Falkirk substitute Lee Bullen. It was an incident which provoked a furious reaction from Hughes although today Ma-Kalambay insisted he still couldn't fathom what all the fuss was about.

He said: "Everyone knows I am comfortable with the ball at my feet, I'm not scared to have it there. I felt if I was to kick the ball there was a chance their player could block it so the other option was to go past him.

"I'm not a kid, I have played enough games and I had my own vision of what I needed to do at that particular time and I felt it was the appropriate action."

Having featured throughout Hibs' pre-season programme, including keeping clean sheets against English Premier League sides Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, Ma-Kalambay admitted he was shocked to lose his place in the starting line-up after Hughes' side had won their opening league matches with St Mirren and Falkirk.

Although Stack was expected to play in the Co-operative Insurance League Cup tie with Brechin City, a match Hibs won 3-0, Ma-Kalambay expected to return for the following game, the visit of Celtic only to find Hughes opting to stick with his new signing. Stack has since been Hughes' No.1, consigning Ma-Kalambay to the bench for almost an entire round of league matches and leaving the 23-year-old, signed by former manager John Collins, still seeking an answer as to why he was dropped.

He said: "I still do not really understand, I haven't been given any explanation.

"After playing pre-season, having a good pre-season and playing in the first two league games which we won it was hard for me to swallow learning just before the Celtic game that I wouldn't be playing.

"I don't know why I've been on the bench but I've kept quiet, it's the manager's decision and I respect it. But I am a human being, a grown man and I have feelings. My job is to play football and to have that decision go against me was tough.

"Then the team was doing so well there was no chance of me getting back in."

The victory over Falkirk lifted Hibs level with Rangers in second place in the SPL table just two points behind leaders Celtic and, said Ma-Kalambay, supported the claim he made before the season started that the Old Firm can be split this season.

He said: "I have the greatest of respect for both Celtic and Rangers, they are massive clubs but nothing has changed in my belief that there is the potential to break in between them."

Ma-Kalambay admitted, however, that he believes it's a "now or never" opportunity with the Old Firm's apparent vulnerability unlikely to last too long.

He said: "I think it has to be this year or never if any team is going to break them up.

"And why shouldn't it be Hibs? We are showing some consistency in not having lost in nine matches. "When I said the Old Firm can be separated when we were in Ireland pre-season I really believed it and now, four months later, nothing has changed.

"We are right up there with them, the boys have shown great, great character.

"We have goals in our team, we are keeping clean sheets with only nine lost in 13 games, we have good players with ambition.

"I think people understand there is something different happening this season.

"I'd love to see this team being the one to do it.

"What would make it all the more enjoyable would be being right in the middle of the action helping the team by being between the sticks."