Garang Kuol received a pep talk from Ange Postecoglou after recent meeting

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Garang Kuol was snapped up by Newcastle United at the end of last year after taking the A-League by storm in his native Australia. Going on to represent his country in the World Cup finals, the youngest player to do so since Pele.

When Kuol arrived on Tyneside in January, Newcastle’s loan manager Shola Ameobi was tasked with finding a club for Kuol to develop. He soon settled on Hearts of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership, feeling that it would be the ideal experience for him to get used to life in Britain.

Unfortunately, things haven’t got off to the best start for Kuol in his life in the northern hemisphere. So far at Hearts he has yet to find the net in 190 minutes of football for the Edinburgh side. That time has come over seven outings for Hearts, only one of those was as a start.

Kuol’s had a slow start to life up North

It’s hardly an ideal scenario for Kuol or either club. Newcastle would expect him to be playing more often to increase his development ahead of returning to St James’ Park. Hearts would have hoped that he was more first-team ready than they feel he is.

The good news is, he’s getting encouragement from the top of the Scottish tree as Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou, a fellow Australian, took the time to speak to Kuol after Celtic’s recent 3-1 win over hearts.

“It was very brief,” Kuol told Australian outlet, The Age.

“He just said, ‘I hope you’re settling in well, and keep working hard. I’m happy to see you’re working hard, and hopefully, you can keep doing well.’ It’s good for him to show that he cares about other Aussie players in the league, and that he’s there for them. It was a very good moment.”

Hopefully a trip home will hit the rest button for Kuol

Kuol has returned to Australia to link up with the national team as they play two friendlies with Ecuador. Aussie head coach Graham Arnold said earlier this month that returning home might help him out, “Garang, at this moment, I think it’s good for him to come back and be in camp. and be around the boys, and we pick up his energy a little bit.”

Hopefully, back in a more familiar set-up, Kuol will find his touch again in the Socceroos yellow, and should he find the net against Ecuador it could give him that confidence boost he needs and he can take that with him back to Scotland and ultimately, back to Tyneside.

Given the slow start to life in Britain, I think it’s looking more likely that Kuol will go out on loan again next season too. It doesn’t sound like he’s going to be able to break into the Newcastle first team, especially after the likely squad rebuild that’s due to take place this summer.