Zander Clark: Why I stayed at Hearts despite what social media said
The goalkeeper is motivated to take his chance in the team when it comes
Zander Clark signed a new two-year Hearts contract because he remains fully motivated to re-establish himself as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper. Despite not playing since August, and with interest from Edinburgh rivals Hibs, Clark committed his future at Tynecastle Park until 2027.
He read some derogatory comments on social media but felt staying at Hearts was a straightforward decision, despite months without a competitive game. “I’m delighted to get it done. I spoke about it for long enough, but when the contract got offered it was done and dusted within the week, so l'm pleased to get it done, get a bit of security, and try and kick on from here,” explained Clark.
“It's been brilliant at Hearts; it's a massive club to be involved in. European group stages this season, qualifying for Europe, it's been an enjoyable time, so obviously when the club wanted to extend my deal it was a no-brainer, although some on social media might have said otherwise.
“It's obviously frustrating not being in the squad this season but that's part of goalkeeping. Only one of us can play the position, so you need to knuckle down and that's when you need to work your hardest to try and get back in this team, so obviously committed to my future and it starts again in terms of trying to get back in.”
Clark is determined not to become a negative influence within the Riccarton dressing room and has methods to cope with his frustrations. He knows the value of staying positive for the sake of himself and his team-mates. “It's something I always try and be if I'm not playing,” he said, speaking in the Hearts matchday programme.
“Obviously you're disappointed, but there's no point in moping and moaning. It helps nobody. It doesn't help me. It doesn't help the team. You can be disappointed internally, but on the external side I always try and be bubbly about the place and try and keep spirits high.
“Obviously we were in a tough moment early in the season and it's easy to feel down. Games were coming quick and fast. It's just how I am as a person. I like to try and keep everybody's spirits high, but if I can help other people, like l say, it doesn't do any favours if I'm moping and moaning, so that's just how I've always been.
“I think you can speak to any goalkeeper that's not playing around the world, they'll not be happy that they're not playing, but you understand that that's the position you're in, so you just need to make sure that when your time comes around that you're ready to go.
“Touching back on that, if you're moping and moaning a bit, and that moment comes and you're not ready for it, then the heat is on you. You've got to keep your mood and your attitude and your application to anything you do at the top of your level, and probably even more so when you're not playing.
“You never know when that moment's going to come, and you need to make sure you're ready, because you're the last line and you've got 10 other boys that are wanting you to maybe dig them out a hole, or vice versa. You need to have that sort of belief, trust, and camaraderle between the squad. That you'll trust them, that they can do their job, and they're going to trust you to come in and do yours.“
He recently welcomed a familiar face to the training ground in the shape of defender Jamie McCart, his double cup-winning team-mate at St Johnstone. The centre-back arrived from Rotherham United and already looks an astute addition to Hearts’ back line.
“I’ve done man chauffeurs for the big man,” said Clark. “I think he’s been a great addition and already proven that in the games that he's played: Good on the ball and likes defending, which is good. Him and Halks [Craig Halkett] are two that are sort of similar. You've got a lefty and a righty, two that love defending and would kick a granny if they got a chance if it meant keeping the ball out the net, so I think that's sort of what we needed; a bit of stability and shores it up.”
Clark understandably retains fond memories from his time in Perth with McCart as they helped St Johnstone lift both the League Cup and Scottish Cup in 2021. “I was showing somebody a photo of Jamie in the aftermath of the cup final and I had scrolled back so far,” he recalled. “It's quite daunting to think I've been here for just over three, so it's flown in, he said. I think it was our togetherness. It was a good squad, we never knew when we'd been beat.
"That season we were winning a lot of games like 1-0 or 2-0. We had a solid defensive unit, and we were more than good on the attack as well. A lot of our goals did come quite late on in games, l think there was a few last minutes where l'd been up celebrating and it wasn't good for the legs! As I say, it was a real togetherness within the squad and boys just wanted to do well.
“We had that sort of underdog tag every season. Everybody had us getting relegated the season that we won the double and we finished in the top six. The season after that was disappointing. It was always a question of how do you top winning a double? We would have obviously liked it to have been easier than what it was, but we managed to win in the relegation play-off against Inverness which was a tough game.
“In the second leg we just never looked like we were ever going to lose It, so that was enjoyable. It's good to look back on those memories and sort of know that you've achieved it. Folk always say you look back on things when you finish playing, but like I said when I was flicking through, going back five years, it's mental to think that it's actually been achieved.”