Newcastle United sent January signing Garang Kuol on loan to Hearts last month, but the Toon youngster has only started once since his arrival in Scotland.
The 18-year-old decided to join Robbie Neilson’s side due to the Australian contingent at Tynecastle, with Dan Ashworth and Eddie Howe happy for Kuol to choose his own destination.
The decision to move to Hearts look like a sensible one. He already knew a few of their players before arriving, which will have helped him settle in during a difficult time in his career. Kuol is still only a teenager, and has now moved thousands of miles away from home.
There are home comforts for him at Hearts, which will help him off the pitch. However, he is yet to really get going on the pitch.
Kuol has started just one game so far for the Jam Tarts, and now their manager has explained why he has been reluctant to play the forward all the time.
Hearts boss provides an update on Garang Kuol
Neilson has spoke to the Edinburgh Evening News about his use of two of his January signings. As well as Kuol, Hearts also brought in Yutaro Oda from Japanese side Vissel Kobe.
“He [Oda] is in a different continent in a different culture playing a different style of football,” he said.
“We have an interpreter getting the language across to him so that he understands what we are trying to do. It’s going to take time. He just needs to take his 20 minutes here and 30 minutes there.
“It’s the same with Garang. He is a young kid so there are certain games he will start and others when he will come on. It’s about development for both of them.
“We just played a Scottish Cup tie on a Friday night on astroturf, it was bucketing down with rain, a 200-miles-an-hour game. You can actually end up hindering young players like that by putting them into those situations.”
Robbie Neilson taking a sensible approach with Kuol
Since arriving in January, Kuol has made four appearances. His only start came against Rangers, where he was used in centre-midfield. It was strange decision by Neilson, and the youngster’s performance did not go down well with the Scottish media.
Bar that odd call, it looks like Neilson is getting it right with Kuol. While we would love to see him play every minute of every game and thrive north of the border, that is never going to happen.
Neilson has acknowledged how difficult it is to play football in a different continent, but the most important thing he said was ‘it’s about development’. He is thinking long-term when it comes to Kuol, which is admirable considering he might not work with the player beyond this season.
But he has been sent to Hearts to develop as a player, and that is what Neilson is looking to do with him. He is being careful, and that is a sensible approach.
As time goes on and he settles more, Kuol should begin to have more of an impact in Scotland. That is what Newcastle will be hoping for, with Ashworth no doubt watching his progress carefully.
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