Home again Garry's tribute to Mowbray

The Scotland striker was back in Edinburgh for the first time since his 1.6million move to Russian outfit Lokomotiv Moscow and headed straight back to his old home to put in a training session with Hibs fitness coach Dougie Fowler.

And in an exclusive interview with the Evening News, the 23-year-old insisted he'd never forget the part Hibs played in turning him from a promising youngster into a player capable of gracing the international stage.

O'Connor disclosed he was distraught to arrive back in the Capital to read headlines claiming he's launched a stinging attack on his former club and labelled its fans as "pests". The stories in Scottish tabloids was lifted from a Russian newspaper and O'Connor insisted it had been spun out of recognition.

He said: "I couldn't believe what I was reading, I don't know where that sort of stuff came from. I would never slate the club I love, a club which has helped me become a good football player.

"As for the fans, I miss them. There may have been times when I was out and about in Edinburgh when I could have done without all the attention but it was nice to be recognised and to have the supporters come up, ask for autographs and wish you all the best.

"I would never have joined a club like Lokomotiv Moscow if it wasn't for the people at Easter Road, people like Rod Petrie, Donald Park, Malcolm Thomson, Craig Brewster, Mixu Paatelainen [pictured] and the like.

"I also have the managers I've played under to thank, Alex McLeish, Franck Sauzee, Bobby Williamson and the man himself Tony Mowbray.

"I have a great coach in Moscow in Slavolijus Udalstov but Tony has been the biggest influence so far on me and I am due him a lot. Hopefully I have a long way to go in my new career in Moscow and be successful but who knows, maybe one day he'll be my manager again somewhere and I've love that.

"He's a great manager, has big ambitions as I do and he was absolutely brilliant to me."

To hear O'Connor profess his love for Hibs in such terms will undoubtedly have some supporters querying why he then departed with more than two years of his contract to run.

It's a point of view O'Connor well understands but with a weekly wage reputed to be in the region of 16,000 on offer it was a move he believes everyone will easily comprehend.

And, he insisted, his experience is proof that Mowbray and Hibs will be true to their word when telling young players that Easter Road is the place to learn their trade and, if they are good enough, the big-money move will come their way in time. He said: "It would be nice to think you could spend your whole career at your club but I have my partner Lisa and our son Josh to think about and moving to Lokomotiv has made us financially secure for life.

"It was after we put Rangers out of the Scottish Cup that Rod [Petrie] and Tony came to me and said that while they weren't sure the timing was right, there had been an approach and gave me an indication of the type of money they were offering.

"They could have brushed the interest under the carpet and simply said I was under contract. Tony said he did not want to lose one of his better players but the money was right for the club and the type of salary the Russians were offering me they had to let me know.

"We had a few long chats about it and both Rod and Tony made it happen for me, they were brilliant.

"For me it was the chance to play in a different country at a very high standard, the sort of opportunity that doesn't come along every day.

"I spoke to my family and we decided to go for it. It was a big, big decision because we were moving into a totally different environment and a language which is very difficult to pick up."

O'Connor was back in town thanks to the Russian League taking a break for the World Cup, the wealth within football in that country underlined again as he leaves again tomorrow for a training camp which will start in Dubai before switching to Italy.

Both Lisa and Josh have joined O'Connor in Moscow but will remain back here until Lokomotiv restart their season with plans for life in Russia well settled. O'Connor said: "There's quite a few players in Russia who will be featuring in the World Cup, hence the break.

"But, to be honest, it has come at the wrong time both personally and for Lokomotiv. I want to play as many games as possible at my new club. I've done well scoring four goals, the coach and the club are very happy with me and, after a poor start to the season, we are now flying.

"We've won our last five games, we beat Torpedo 4-1 and Zenit 3-1, but in both matches we could have scored five or six goals. I've started every game bar one - against Zenit - for which I was injured but I was put straight back in to the side which proves to me that the coach rates me."

Despite the language difficulties O'Connor is settling in well at Lokomotiv where he enjoys a vastly different lifestyle to that at Easter Road or the one predicted by Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov who warned him of Moscow's nightlcubs and beautiful women.

O'Connor smiles at mention of Romanov's words of caution before saying: "My day consists of getting up, having a bit of breakfast and then being driven to the training camp or stadium.

"There you mix with your team-mates, have a coffee, watch a bit of television and then go training. The sessions are never long then it's lunch and go home. The rest of the lads are very friendly and I'm particularly pally with Emir Spahic, who is a Bosnian internationalist. So we tend just to go out a bit for a coffee and to chill."

He may have arrived in Moscow as something of an unknown, but O'Connor has made his mark with huge banners carrying his photograph draped around the Lokomotiv Stadium by fans, although he admitted he can usually walk around unnoticed.

He said: "Moscow is a massive place. You do get noticed by the odd football fan but there are that many people about you tend not to get noticed unlike if I was walking along Princes Street.

"Lisa enjoys Moscow. When they come back out to join me when the season gets underway again Josh will be going to an English-speaking nursery where he'll be mixing with kids from a lot of different countries.

"I'll be getting Russian lessons and we have an unbelievable apartment, absolutely beautiful, just ten or 15 minutes drive from Red Square. It's so big Josh can get lost in it. We also have a nanny and a cook which has helped us enormously, but Lokomotiv as a club have been tremendous to us.

"But it was great to come back to Easter Road this week and see all those familiar faces around the ground again. Hibs will always be in my heart and I would love to come back one day, perhaps towards the end of my career, and put all I have learned by then to good use for the club. If that were to happen the fans could be assured that they'd still get that 110 per cent from me."