Life hasn’t been easy in Scotland for Shepparton’s Garang Kuol, but finally his senior mentor is beginning to take notice.
The 18-year-old round ball revelation has been starved of game time at loan club Hearts and now Newcastle United, the English Premier League club Kuol signed for in January, has weighed in on the discussion through boss Eddie Howe.
“I think, whenever you loan a player, you hope they play every game, for a striker, they score loads of goals, they return in a brilliant mental place,” Howe said.
“Part of going on loan is that you don’t know what’s going to happen. They have to earn everything they get.
“Sometimes, through a disappointing loan, you can actually respond and learn things about yourself which makes the loan really beneficial. So I’d never look at it as a huge negative.
“But, of course, the loan probably hasn’t gone as we’d have hoped.”
Kuol has played just 190 minutes for Hearts across seven appearances since joining the club on January 12.
Only one has been in a starting position.
It was hoped his first goal for the Socceroos on March 24 during an international break would be the springboard Kuol needed to kick on at Hearts, but turmoil within the club with the exit of manager Robbie Neilson left the teenager in the lurch when it came to regular game time.
He was often deployed as a super sub at former club Central Coast Mariners in the A-League Men, scoring six goals in 18 appearances.
However, he hasn’t registered a goal or assist in the Scottish Premier League, used sparingly for Hearts in a stint which was hoped to help the Shepparton product adjust to the pace of European football.
The prodigious ex-Goulburn Valley Suns talent is contracted to Hearts until the end of the Scottish Premier League season (June 4), with debate circling about whether another loan awaits Kuol.
It’s unlikely he will slot directly into Newcastle United’s first team upon return, with his future still currently up in the air.