Voracious Hibs forward feasting on positive energy after brutal Berlin treatment

Ramadan not a problem for Comoros international with a hunger for goals

Loving life again - Maolida has been energised by his move to Hibs.

With his footballing appetite running somewhere between ravenous and voracious during a time of fasting for religious reasons, Myziane Maolida is taking sustenance wherever he can find it. Which means having breakfast at four a.m. And then devouring the souls of defenders shaken loose by another drop of the shoulder and shifting of those fast, fast feet.

The Comoros international’s strict observance of Ramadan is an accepted fact of football in a more enlightened age of tolerance and understanding, with clubs no longer seeking to cajole Muslim players into breaking their fast – no food or water between sunrise and sunset - in order to keep the sports scientists happy. At 25, Maolida is used to the routine by now. And to be honest, thirst and hunger are a minor inconvenience to a guy who has coped with much tougher restrictions in the past six months alone.

Relegated to the German regional leagues and told straight out that he wasn’t good enough, wasn’t working hard enough, to retain his place in Bundesliga 2 by Hertha Berlin boss Pal Dardai, Maolida was at a low ebb when Hibs came calling in January. His fortunes have been transformed by a short-term loan move to Easter Road.

Nick Montgomery has argued that Maolida is motivated by a desire to prove a few people wrong. Among those few people would be Dardai, who described the winger/centre forward as “lazy like few players I have ever seen in my life.”

Yet the player himself, who admits that that his family and friends have noticed how much happier he has been since moving to Edinburgh, strikes a balanced note when discussing his travails in Berlin. Yesterday’s news, in his mind.

Asked if anyone from Hertha had been in touch to monitor the progress of an asset still under contract for another season, Maolida revealed: “No, there’s no contact. I’m just here and focused on what’s happening here. I have no contact with them.

“Maybe they look at my performances, maybe not. I don’t know. No, I am not disappointed because I am very happy here with my team mates, the fans and everybody here. I’m just concentrating on Hibernian.”

Asked if Dardai had explained to him why he’d been dropped from the main squad and sent to play for Hertha’s B team way down the footballing ladder, Maolida said: “Yes, he said I don’t do well in training. Not so well, that’s why he put me in the second team. For me it’s in the past. Now I’m focused on Hibernian.

“Yes, every time the coach says something bad to you it’s not easy. But my head now is good, and I will work hard, I’m happy here.

“The manager here, he gave me confidence. He talked with me the other week and we went through some video after a game to show what I can do better, what I did bad, and he helped me a lot.

“My family and friends say they can see I am enjoying my football, I’m more happy, my body language is much better. They’re happy for me that they’re seeing me like this.”

Admitting that it hurt not to be trusted by a coach, the former Lyon and Nice star – a 10 million Euro player at 18 – said: “It’s different because you have to fight every day in training to show you can do something for the team. But once the coach has trust in you then you are more free on the pitch and in your head. It’s just much better.

“In the past I had doubts sometimes. But I never lost my confidence because I know my quality and when I am on the pitch I try my hardest to play well.

“I’m motivated just to play games and show my quality in every game. It’s easier to play well when the coach shows trust in you. That’s why I am really enjoying my football here. Hopefully I continue to do that.

“I can do more and more. I can play better than I did against Rangers on Sunday. But I’m in good condition and I feel good in my head so I can show my qualities.

“When I came here, I wasn’t really fit. I had been playing in the second team but it’s not the same intensity. Here it’s more physical and I needed some games to get back to my best condition. It’s different for me now, much better.”

Hibs will lose Maolida to international duty this month, with Comoros playing friendlies against Uganda and Angola in Marrakesh on March 22 and 25. It speaks volumes about how important he’s become to Montgomery that the manager will be sweating over his safe return from that trip to Morocco.

Maolida insists, meanwhile, that his performances will not be affected by his dedication to fasting during Ramadan, explaining: “It’s not difficult for me because I have been doing it for a long time. I have been a professional for eight years and I’ve been doing it since I started at Lyon. It won’t be difficult for me to observe Ramadan, it’s natural for me.

“Can I have water? No. Nothing at all. You just have to get up in the morning and prepare for the day, until the sun goes down. I have breakfast at four a.m. - so for me it isn’t difficult. It’s important for me to have energy so I make sure I do it. 

“Every time I’ve observed Ramadan, I’ve felt good. Even when I did it at Nice, I felt very good. I had some good games. So for me it’s not difficult. The only difficulty is not drinking water - but it’s been fine for me."