Hearts star thrilled to have second chance at Tynecastle after previously passing on Gorgie transfer
The defender arrived at Hearts after time working with Derek McInnes previously.
He watched a Hearts opportunity pass him by before - and Stuart Findlay is glad to have had a second bite at the Tynecastle cherry.
The experienced defender signed for the Jambos in the summer on a season-long loan from Oxford United, having previously worked with head coach Derek McInnes at Kilmarnock. He has started life in maroon impressively, scoring four goals and an assist from central defence, but it isn’t the first time he’s had the chance to sign for Hearts.
Back in Robbie Neilson’s second spell, the club were an option for the centre-back, but he opted for America and Philadelphia Union. A feeling of what if lurks around the decision, fuelling his pride to be a Hearts player now.
Stuart Findlay on previous Hearts transfer chance
He said: “I think it was quite well known before I moved to Philadelphia. I was very, very close to signing for Hearts under Robbie Neilson at the time and then you look back a little bit, I didn't play as much as I wanted in Philly and you look at Hearts and think, what if? Did I do the right thing at the right time? But then to get that opportunity to come back, five years older, a more experienced head, I think I can bring more strings to my bow. I think it's good for me and it's good for the club.
“It's a strange one. In the grand scheme of things, I'm still quite a new player, but it's been a whirlwind start, just with the amount of games we play in the League Cup and the way we started in the league. It just feels like it's been a longer season already, but I think that's a testament to how well the boys have included me. I feel like I'm part of the furniture already, and yeah, it's been a nice start and I've really, really enjoyed it.”
With his deal up at Oxford next summer, Findlay insists an extended Gorgie stay will be something he’ll consider. The defender explained: “I've worked with the manager for a couple of years now. He's a manager that I work well with, he likes working with me and if things go successfully for the manager and myself here, I'd be crazy for it not to be something I'd want to continue.
What Stuart Findlay has realised at Hearts
“You don't realise the stature of a club at Hearts until you walk through the door and you realise what there is here and I feel very lucky to be a part of that. As I said before, I probably, through my own fault, missed that boat before and chose to go down a different path, but to be able to get a second bite of the cherry, so far it's been everything I could have hoped for. As I said, long may it continue, whether that's to the end of the season or further along the line, then who knows, but hopefully, yeah.”
A range of players from different backgrounds have been brought to Hearts this summer in a recruitment drive aided by Jamestown Analytics. Having experience lots of different nationalities in America, it’s nothing Findlay hasn’t experienced before. He added: “I don't think you're going to get any more diverse than when I was in the Philadelphia Union change room. I think we had something like 17 different nationalities. My best friends were an Englishman, a Norwegian, a Hungarian, so I'm used to being around these different nationalities.
“But it's good, it's a different conversation than what you may be getting out of the changing room with all the Scottish lads. But it's something that, as I said, you don't know how that's going to be, you don't know how different lifestyles, different cultures are going to mix together. But I think, especially off the field so far, it's been a very, very good change to be a part of.
“Even little silly things like they might speak English, but I don't know if they can speak my Glaswegian English. It's when you go to different places like Philadelphia and you have to adapt the way you talk to certain people. Wee silly things that you probably don't realise, but they are vital. Yeah, I can talk to people in English, but for them to understand me, I need to understand that they are coming. It's harder for them to maybe understand some of the colloquial things that I'm coming out with. So yeah, all the experience in the past, I think when you come somewhere like Herts and people say I'm experienced, I don't think you've just been on the pitch. I think you can bring things that you've had in your life and adapt to help people fit in. And I think that's a role that I've tried to take upon myself.